The pharmaceutical industry reigns supreme over us all — including expecting mothers — and Dr. Adam Urato, a fetal and maternal medicine specialist, is gravely concerned by the lack of informed consent given to pregnant women concerning their medications.
Namely, SSRI antidepressants.
“The main one I’m focusing on currently is the use of antidepressants during pregnancy, because we’re seeing so much of that in the general population, but in particular, in pregnancy as well,” Urato tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.”
“I tell my patients that medications are chemicals. They’re not naturally occurring substances. They’re not like oranges growing on an orange tree. They’re synthesized in a chemical manufacturing facility,” he explains, noting that in any manufacturing plant, you’ll see workers wearing masks and goggles for a reason.
“Those medications are going to cross over from the mom into the baby. A drug like Zofran has an impact on the serotonin receptors. Serotonin is a crucial cell-signaling molecule. Serotonin is crucial for fetal development.”
“So if you’ve got this delicate system, intricate system, that relies on serotonin and other neurotransmitters,” he continues, “and then you disrupt it with chemicals like Zofran or like the SSRI antidepressants or other antidepressants, it’s going to have an impact.”
While these medications are intended to help patients with what’s going on in their mind, it affects their entire body.
“There’s evidence, for example, that patients on antidepressants, on the SSRI antidepressants, have increased rates of bleeding,” he tells Stuckey, explaining that it’s because SSRIs have a huge impact on platelet function.
The drugs also have a great impact on the gut and bone strength, which leaves many SSRI patients with a higher rate of fractures in their bones and higher rates of osteoporosis. But it gets worse.
“We’re seeing increased rates of miscarriage, so the woman loses her pregnancy early. We’re seeing increased rates of birth defects. It’s been clearly shown with some of the drugs, things like heart defects,” Urato explains. “We’re seeing increased rates in preterm birth, we see increased rates in PPROM, breaking your water early, having the rupture of the membranes. We see increased rates of low birthweight babies, small for size; they didn’t grow well likely because of the impact of the drugs on the placenta late in pregnancy.”
“We see an increase in the disease called pre-eclampsia, which causes high blood pressure in women, and proteinuria, protein in the urine, we see higher rates of that in the women on the SSRIs,” he continues. “We see higher rates of postpartum hemorrhage, there’s higher rates of women bleeding who are on SSRIs.”
“Postpartum hemorrhage is one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality,” he adds.
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