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The findings provide evidence that the length of prenatal SSRI antidepressant use can affect neonatal adjustment and can have an effect on psychomotor test scores in infancy. Importantly, the children's mental development and motor function by neurological examination were within the normal range. Timing of exposure to SSRIs during susceptible periods of fetal development and variations in the severity of maternal depression may have contributed to the associations.

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Objective: To determine if apneic preterm infants currently treated with methylxanthines develop evidence of sleep deprivation from cumulative arousal and motor activational effects.Study Design: Sleep, wake, arousal and actigraphic movements were monitored in extubated clinically stable premature infants (N ¼ 37). Neonates were free of other medications for >72 h and were grouped based on methylxanthine exposure: >5 days with caffeine (n ¼ 14), >5 days theophylline (n ¼ 13) or no prior exposure (n ¼ 10).Result: Duration of methylxanthine treatment predicted increased arousals, wakefulness and actigraphic movements, and decreased active sleep. Recording from 1200 to 0500 hours, methylxanthine-treated groups showed reductions in all arousal parameters: waking state, number of wake epochs, brief arousals and composite arousal index, and shorter fast-burst, sleep-related motility than untreated controls. Conclusion:In apneic preterms, chronic methylxanthine treatment appears to produce sleep deprivation secondary to the stimulatory action of methylxanthines on arousal and motor systems.