Patterns of Antidepressant Medication Use Among Pregnant Women in a United States Population

This article describes the pattern of reported antidepressant use around the time of pregnancy in a population‐based sample of women who delivered live‐born babies without birth defects. Data were used from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, an ongoing case‐control study of risk factors for birth defects covering 10 US states. Mothers of live‐born infants without birth defects (controls) born between 1998 and 2005 were randomly selected from each site. Information on the mother's characteristics and exposure to antidepressants was collected via a standardized telephone interview. Among 6582 mothers included in the study, 298 (4.5%) reported use of an antidepressant in the period of 3 months before through the end of pregnancy. Use of selective serotonin‐reuptake inhibitors was reported most often (3.8%), followed by bupropion (0.7%). A statistically significant decline was observed, from 3.1% to 2.3% (P < .001), in reported use of antidepressants between the first and second month after conception. The frequency of reported antidepressant use at any time during pregnancy increased from 2.5% in 1998 to 8.1% in 2005 (P < .001) in 4 states. The findings show an increase in reported antidepressant use over a 9‐year period and a substantial decrease in use around the usual time of pregnancy recognition.