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Antenatal Depressive Symptoms And Antidepressant Use In Pregnancy, Jerry Yu-Hsiang Chen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Review of the current literature reveals inconsistent findings on potential associations between antidepressant use during pregnancy and adverse fetal and child health and development. This study aims to examine the effect of antenatal SSRI exposure on several neonatal (preterm birth, small- and large-for-gestational age, Apgar score, and neonatal intensive care unit admission) and child developmental outcomes (measured by Ages and Stages Questionnaire) while controlling for confounding by indication. Data were obtained from the Prenatal Health Project, a longitudinal cohort study of 2,357 women in London, Ontario. Results from univariable analysis discovered that infants exposed to in utero SSRIs were more …