Two studies were released within the past week looking at the effects of some popular medications on newborns and pregnant mothers.

Women who take Prozac or certain other antidepressants late in pregnancy raise the risk that their babies will suffer jitteriness, irritability and serious respiratory problems during their first couple of weeks, researchers say.

Babies born to women taking antidepressants in the last three months of pregnancy were three times more likely to develop drug-related symptoms than those born to women who did not use the drugs or took them only in early pregnancy, according to a University of Pittsburgh study that pooled previous research.

The study was published in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association. (Read the rest of this brief.)

Pregnant women who take atypical antipsychotics such as clozapine, olanzapine, or risperidone, do not appear to be at increased risk of giving birth to a child with a birth defect, Canadian investigators report.

Many women of childbearing age suffer from schizophrenia and other mental illnesses that require them to take antipsychotic medications while pregnant, Dr. Adrienne Einarson, from the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, and colleagues point out.

Atypical antipsychotics have been on the market since the mid-1990s, but data are lacking on there use during pregnancy. Reporting these findings in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the authors say it’s best to strive for “optimal control” of psychiatric disorders throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. (Read the rest of this brief.)

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 19 May 2005
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