Antidepressants linked to premature births

Saturday, May 28, 2016 by: L.J. Devon, Staff Writer
Tags: pregnancy, SSRIs, low birth weight

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(NaturalNews) Even though studies have already linked SSRI use during pregnancy to birth defects and autism in children, the pills are continually and dangerously prescribed to pregnant women. Common SSRIs like Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft artificially increase serotonin levels in the person's brain by blocking the natural re-absorption of serotonin. No effort is made to understand and address the cause of why a person's serotonin levels are low in the first place.

As SSRIs artificially stimulate serotonin levels, they do not allow the brain to properly heal and maintain its own serotonin levels. These drugs are basically suppressing a person's depression in a chemical way, leading to extreme shifts in how a person processes emotions and reacts accordingly. That's why the many side effects of SSRIs include suicidal thoughts, aggression and insomnia. The person's brain is forced to cope with chemically induced suppression of problems they were struggling to deal with in the first place!

If such drastic changes occur in the brains of adults, how much more drastic would the changes be on a third trimester fetus who is typically 1/25 the size of the average adult? How would these drugs affect the fetus in the earliest stages of development?

SSRIs burden pregnant women, cause premature birth, significantly lower birth weight

New studies published in the International Journal of Epidemiology point out new dangers of taking SSRIs during pregnancy. When pregnant women take the drugs for two or more trimesters, their newborn has a significantly lower birth weight and lower gestational length.

Using the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study and The Medical Birth Registry of Norway, researchers from Canada and Norway investigated the births of 27,756 siblings. Of the test group, 194 of the newborns were exposed to SSRIs in the womb.

Even after adjusting for socio-demographic and familial factors, SSRI use during pregnancy was still associated with premature births and significantly lower birth weights. On average, fetuses exposed to SSRIs in the womb were born 4.9 days sooner. They also weighed 205 grams less than babies not exposed to the drugs. Neither family environment nor genetics could explain the significant differences in fetal development. It all came down to the use of SSRIs.

This is yet another example of how SSRIs make a person's state of depression even worse than it was before. As pregnant mothers try to cope with the changes going on in their bodies, the last thing they need is some doctor telling them that they need brain chemical intervention (which will ultimately complicate the pregnancy, threatening the neurological development and birth weight of their child).

What pregnant women really need

If a doctor really wanted to help, they'd encourage the pregnant woman to obtain adequate amounts of all B vitamins (especially folate), protein, zinc, iron, magnesium, selenium, silica, chromium and vitamin D. These key nutritional components not only ensure that the baby develops appropriately, but are also a necessity for the woman to remain strong in heart, mind and body as she experiences extreme changes within. As placenta and fetus formation absorbs much of the nutrition in her body, she must go to greater lengths to make sure her cells have the nutrients they need to have energy full term. Whole food vitamin supplementation is crucial for her during pregnancy, not SSRI use. Stress reduction and deep breathing techniques are key. Also, when mother and baby are fueled with proper nutrition, they don't have to worry about the complications of a potential flu virus, chronic fatigue, or deep states of depression. On top of avoiding SSRIs, women should avoid pretty much every synthetic drug and chemical exposure, including the mercury-laden flu shot marketed to them by the CDC.

Sources include:

AlphaGalileo.org

DrugWatch.com

Science.NaturalNews.com