The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a warning about the risks of women using antidepressants while they are pregnant.

The Daily Mail reports that women who take antidepressants such as Prozac or Seroxat – a class of antidepressant known as SSRIs – during pregnancy may risk their child developing the rare lung condition persistent pulmonary hypertension after birth.

Under normal circumstances, only two in 1,000 babies will develop the lung condition, but research has suggested that, in pregnant women who take antidepressants, the risk more than doubles to five in 1,000 babies developing the condition after birth.

The findings of studies conducted five years ago first suggested a link between taking antidepressant in pregnancy and persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns. The findings of recent studies by the European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Working Party has supported the earlier findings.

The MHRA’s latest monthly Drug Safety Update issued a statement regarding the risks:

‘A review of data has suggested that the use of SSRIs in pregnancy, particularly in the later stages, may increase the risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn.’

The MHRA proposes to ask manufacturers to issue a warning in leaflets in the packaging of SSRIs.

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