--- title: Antidepressants Prozac and Paxil Linked to Higher Risk of Birth Defects description: Drugs Prozac and Paxil are linked to certain defects in a new study canonical: https://time.com/3952346/antidepressants-paxil-prozac-birth-defects/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-10T00:56:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:07:46.314Z article:section: Health og:title: Antidepressants Prozac and Paxil Linked to Higher Risk of Birth Defects og:description: Drugs Prozac and Paxil are linked to certain defects in a new study og:url: https://time.com/3952346/antidepressants-paxil-prozac-birth-defects/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Antidepressants Prozac and Paxil Linked to Higher Risk of Birth Defects twitter:description: Drugs Prozac and Paxil are linked to certain defects in a new study twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Some Antidepressants Linked to Higher Risk of Birth Defects by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 10, 2015 12:56 AM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 10, 2015 12:56 AM UTC A new study finds women who used certain antidepressants could be more likely to have babies born with rare birth defects. According to the study of 28,000 women by the [Centers of Disease Control and Prevention](http://www.bmj.com/company/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/birth-defects.pdf) (CDC), certain birth defects were more common among users of antidepressants Prozac and Paxil. Prozac usage was linked to defects like misshapen skulls and Paxil was associated with defects such as intestines growing outside of the baby’s body and missing parts of the brain and skull. Both drugs were linked to heart defects, according to the study. The study’s authors note that the risks are very small and that there is no proof that the drugs cause defects, but they did discover a link between using the drugs in early stages of pregnancy and some defects. Women were asked if they used certain antidepressants in the time just before they conceived and during the first three months of pregnancy. The study, which was published Wednesday in the [British Medical Journal](http://www.bmj.com/company/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/birth-defects.pdf), follows several studies that linked the entire class of antidepressants to defects. The study, however, did not find links with birth defects in antidepressants Celexa, Lexapro or Zoloft. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3952346/antidepressants-paxil-prozac-birth-defects/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3952346/antidepressants-paxil-prozac-birth-defects/"},"headline":"Some Antidepressants Linked to Higher Risk of Birth Defects","datePublished":"2015-07-10T00:56:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:07:46.314Z","description":"Drugs Prozac and Paxil are linked to certain defects in a new study","url":"https://time.com/3952346/antidepressants-paxil-prozac-birth-defects/","keywords":["Drugs","medicine","Pregnancy","Babies","CDC","birth defects"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drugs/","name":"Drugs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3952346/antidepressants-paxil-prozac-birth-defects/","name":"Some Antidepressants Linked to Higher Risk of Birth Defects"}}]}] ```