Antenatal antidepressant use is linked with an increased risk of preterm birth, particularly at higher doses, and also with a greater risk of respiratory distress, a study suggests.

Compared with pregnant women on low doses of antidepressants who reduced their usage or stopped entirely, women were 31% more likely to have preterm delivery on moderate doses and 78% more likely on high doses.

Women who began pregnancy on moderate doses of antidepressants and cut back or stopped them did not have an increased risk of preterm births.

In addition, compared with women on low antidepressant doses who cut back or stopped usage during pregnancy, women had higher risks of having a newborn with respiratory distress if they stayed on low doses throughout pregnancy (36% higher risk), as did women who started out on moderate doses and cut back (23% higher risk) and women who remained on moderate or high doses (67% and 223% higher risk, respectively).