SSRIs and pregnancy

The use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in pregnancy, particularly sertraline and citalopram, may increase a baby’s risk of septal heart defects. A population-based study of 493,113 children born in Denmark between 1996 and 2003, published online in the British Medical Journal, found that the odds ratio for septal heart defects was 3.25 for sertraline, 2.52 for citalopram, and 1.34 for fluoxetine.