A paper was published in BMJ, a medical journal, to reveal results of a large study aimed at measuring the risk of some birth defects related to certain antidepressants taken by pregnant women. The study clearly showed that some birth defects have a very little to do with pregnant women taking certain antidepressants. Though, a slight rise was seen in absolute risk of birth defects in the children of women taking paroxetine.

The researchers found that the risk of birth effects was related to two antidepressants -- Prozac, or fluoxetine, and Paxil, or paroxetine. However, there was no risk of birth defects with three other antidepressants -- Zoloft, or sertraline, Celexa, or citalopram, and Lexapro, or escitalopram.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) is the class of antidepressants all these drugs belong to. Efforts have been long made for ending the years-long debate whether or not SSRIs are linked to neural tube defects, cardiac malformations and other rare disorders in babies.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in 20005 that the risk for birth defects, and heart defects in particular, could be increased by Paxil.

The latest study, conducted by a team of US and Canadian researchers, led by the CDC, showed associations between fluoxetine and defects in the heart wall as well as craniosynostosis, or irregular skull shape. Paroxetine was linked to five birth defects, including heart defects; anencephaly, defined as problems with brain and skull formation; and abdominal-wall defects.

However, the researchers said that the rise in absolute risk was found to be low. They explained it by giving an example that the risk of anencephaly in the children of women taking paroxetine is seven in 10,000 instead of two in 10,000. The risk of heart defects, on the other hand, rises to 24 in 10,000 from 10 in 10,000.

“This study is useful in terms of trying to nail down more precisely risks associated with specific drugs and specific birth defects”, said Christina Chambers, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego.