In a prospective cohort study of 466 pregnant women over 10 years, researchers at the California Teratogen Information Service found that women exposed to SSRIs during pregnancy were 60% less likely to initiate breastfeeding than women who took no antidepressant. “Whether this is due to the mother’s fear of harming her baby by breastfeeding while taking the medication, or due to the mother’s depression itself is unclear,” said a co-author of the study. The results will appear in an upcoming issue of Human Lactation.
