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Depression, Anxiety May Lower Chances of IVF Pregnancy [PsychCentral.com]

 

A new study shows that depression and anxiety may be associated with a reduced chance of pregnancy and live birth following in vitro fertilization (IVF). While the findings are complex regarding the role of antidepressants in this connection, the researchers say that the results ultimately point to depression and anxiety as the main underlying factors.

Within the last few decades, antidepressant treatments, particularly selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have increased both in the general population and among women of reproductive age. However, little is known about the effect of these drugs on the ability to conceive.

“We found that women undergoing their first IVF treatment who either had been diagnosed with depression or anxiety or had been dispensed an antidepressant had lower rates of pregnancy and live birth rates compared to women who did not suffer from these conditions or take antidepressants before beginning their IVF treatment,” said first author Carolyn Cesta, doctoral student at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

“Importantly, we found that women with a depression or anxiety diagnosis without a prescription of antidepressants had an even lower chance of becoming pregnant or having a live birth.”

SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant. In the large group of women in the current study taking SSRIs, there was no difference in pregnancy or live birth rates following IVF treatment.



[For more of this story, written by Traci Pedersen, go to http://psychcentral.com/news/2...regnancy/100170.html]

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