A study conducted by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts asserts that a smaller risk is posed to the fetus by the use of antidepressants by mothers during late pregnancy than was earlier thought.

The study published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined the effects of exposure of pregnant women to a class of anti depressants called serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and the risk of development of persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN).

PPHN is a rare heart and lung condition that can occur in newborns making it difficult for their heart to pump blood through their arteries.

Krista Huybrechts, Epidemiologist at Brigham's Division and the author of the study stated, "What this study does is it shows that taking these antidepressants during pregnancy might not be as big of a risk as people have thought in the past".

The researchers studies more than 3m pregnant women and discovered that 20.8 per 10,000 infants who were not exposed to antidepressants also had PPHN as compared with 31 per 10,000 infants who were exposed to SSRI and developed PPHN.

Huybrechts asserted that since the difference is less and after factoring in other differences among mothers, it can be established that the consumption of SSRI's results only in a slight increase in PPHN risk.

She added that she does not promote that patients should stay on antidepressants during pregnancy but at least the revelation will hopefully give pregnant women some reassurance.

The news is surely comforting as out of 3.8 million pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid, 102,179 were recorded to take SSRIs late in pregnancy.