Are Antidepressants Safe During Pregnancy

Being pregnant can be a wonderful time in your life, but it can also be a cause for concern and worry if you're a woman taking antidepressants. Women are constantly counselled to avoid medication during pregnancy, but stopping antidepressant medication can be very dangerous to do. Not only that, the effects of antidepressants on an unborn foetus haven't been fully studied and while researchers offer caution, they don't have firm answers on medication for depression and pregnancy.

Suddenly halting antidepressant use can have a serious effect on a person. Plunging into profound depression is a high risk of stopping medication abruptly, and anyone taking antidepressants is constantly warned not to put aside their pills without first consulting a doctor and following a careful plan to wean off the medication.

Risking suicidal thoughts or severe depression most often outweighs the risk to baby's health, as one is greater than the other. For sure, this places pregnant women in a situation full of worry. If they don't stop their medication, will baby be safe? Will there be long-term consequences to their child because of antidepressant use during pregnancy?

The sedentary lifestyle of someone gripped by depression can be just as adverse to the unborn foetus as someone active and healthy who takes medication. Sometimes the risks must be carefully weighed, as a depressed woman may lose weight and eat very poorly or sleep too much, none of which has a healthy effect on an unborn baby.

Eating well and properly is very, very important to the proper development of a baby and when meals are skipped or are too small to provide the caloric intake a pregnant woman needs, baby will definitely suffer.

Antidepressant medication and pregnancy need to be weighed carefully, risk versus risk. Most medications on the market today have shown some adverse effects on unborn babies and the deeper scientists plunge, the less the outlook for antidepressants seems positive.

Paxil has been linked to heart defects when taken in the first three months of pregnancy and Prozac has shown to be correlated to a rare but serious lung problem when used in the latter months. Tricyclic medication is definitely one that has shown to have adverse effects on fetuses and doctors stay away from this type of antidepressant when a pregnant woman is concerned.

Having to weigh the pros and cons of your own health versus your baby's is extremely difficult. Many women have, however, effectively worked together with their doctor to find a plan for dealing with depression during pregnancy and some have certainly opted to take medication during that time of their lives.

Your doctor may be able to help you find alternative methods of dealing with your illness that doesn't involve medication or will monitor you closely throughout your term should you have to stay on antidepressants.

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