114 Organizations Sign Open Letter Raising Concerns with FDA Panel on SSRIs and Pregnancy
Four weeks ago, on July 21, 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hosted a panel discussing the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy, which raised concerns among many maternal health organizations due to the FDA’s failure to provide a balanced and evidence-based overview of the potential risks and benefits to both the mother and the baby when SSRIs are used during pregnancy.
The overall message from the panel dismissed the impact of untreated maternal mental health conditions on both mothers and babies — a significant oversight when you consider that maternal mental health conditions are the most common complication of pregnancy, a leading cause of maternal mortality in the U.S., and a critical risk factor for the health and development of infants and children.
In the last two decades, organizations dedicated to the health and well-being of mothers and babies have made meaningful progress in reducing stigma and raising awareness around maternal mental health conditions and appropriate treatment options — but that progress is fragile. Public statements that downplay these conditions and the available evidence-based treatments can discourage mothers from seeking the help they need and deserve.
In response to the panel, two organizations that lead policy advocacy in the maternal health field — the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance (MMHLA) and Chamber of Mothers — penned an open letter to the FDA outlining their concerns and calling on the FDA and the Trump Administration to ensure that future conversations about maternal mental health are compassionate, balanced, and evidence-based, and that they include a more comprehensive range of clinical voices, particularly those in psychiatry, obstetrics, and maternal mental health.
The open letter was co-signed by 114 organizations and concluded with a collaborative request to assist the FDA and the current Administration in future discussions around maternal mental health.
You can read the full letter here.
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