Women exposed to antidepressants near the time of delivery show an increased risk for postpartum hemorrhage, according to a BMJ study.

Researchers analyzed Medicaid data on some 100,000 women with a diagnosis of mood or anxiety disorder. They used pharmacy dispensing data to characterize exposure, with “current exposure” defined as having a supply of antidepressant medicine on hand that overlapped with the delivery date.

Compared with nonexposed women (i.e., those having no drug supply within 5 months of the delivery date), those with current exposure showed a roughly 1.5-fold increased risk for postpartum hemorrhage. The authors calculate a number need to harm of 80 for patients on serotonin reuptake inhibitors and 97 for nonserotonin reuptake inhibitors.

They speculate that the effect could be partly explained by the effect of blocking serotonin reuptake in platelets, but the association with nonserotonin inhibiting drugs is “unexpected and should be confirmed.”

Soure: BMJ