VIDEO: Some SSRIs are better than others for pregnant women

CHICAGO – The Food and Drug Administration’s letter rating scale is "unreliable" when it comes to prescribing antidepressants for pregnant women, according to Dr. Marlene P. Freeman, director of clinical services for the perinatal and reproductive psychiatry clinical research program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

"It’s actually very important to disregard those letters and turn to actual data when making clinical decisions, which can be very difficult for the individual practitioner who doesn’t specialize in this area," Dr. Freeman said in an interview during Psychiatry Update 2014, sponsored by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Other concerns Dr. Freeman thinks clinicians treating pregnant women with depression need to be aware of include which SSRIs can lead to cardiovascular malformations in the child, as well as which ones have been associated with spontaneous abortions. Dr. Freeman also discusses what supplementation offers promise for preventing autism, and when omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is appropriate for first-line therapy in depression.

Current Psychiatry and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

[email protected]

On Twitter @whitneymcknight

CHICAGO – The Food and Drug Administration’s letter rating scale is "unreliable" when it comes to prescribing antidepressants for pregnant women, according to Dr. Marlene P. Freeman, director of clinical services for the perinatal and reproductive psychiatry clinical research program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

"It’s actually very important to disregard those letters and turn to actual data when making clinical decisions, which can be very difficult for the individual practitioner who doesn’t specialize in this area," Dr. Freeman said in an interview during Psychiatry Update 2014, sponsored by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Other concerns Dr. Freeman thinks clinicians treating pregnant women with depression need to be aware of include which SSRIs can lead to cardiovascular malformations in the child, as well as which ones have been associated with spontaneous abortions. Dr. Freeman also discusses what supplementation offers promise for preventing autism, and when omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is appropriate for first-line therapy in depression.

Current Psychiatry and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

[email protected]

On Twitter @whitneymcknight

CHICAGO – The Food and Drug Administration’s letter rating scale is "unreliable" when it comes to prescribing antidepressants for pregnant women, according to Dr. Marlene P. Freeman, director of clinical services for the perinatal and reproductive psychiatry clinical research program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

"It’s actually very important to disregard those letters and turn to actual data when making clinical decisions, which can be very difficult for the individual practitioner who doesn’t specialize in this area," Dr. Freeman said in an interview during Psychiatry Update 2014, sponsored by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Other concerns Dr. Freeman thinks clinicians treating pregnant women with depression need to be aware of include which SSRIs can lead to cardiovascular malformations in the child, as well as which ones have been associated with spontaneous abortions. Dr. Freeman also discusses what supplementation offers promise for preventing autism, and when omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is appropriate for first-line therapy in depression.

Current Psychiatry and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

[email protected]

On Twitter @whitneymcknight