One in four women suffers from depression During pregnancy. This may imply that have to take antidepressants, either by continuing a previous treatment or because symptoms appear during pregnancy and must be stopped.
The specialists ensure that most of these medications are compatible with pregnancy and also sometimes necessary, since an untreated depression can involve health problems for the baby and difficulty in establishing a mother and child bond.
But ... can antidepressants be taken throughout pregnancy? Does it serve the same treatment that was already followed before becoming pregnant? Do you have side effects for the baby? What can happen if depression is not treated? Are there alternatives?
Dr. Alejandra González, psychiatrist and therapeutic director of the Mental Health and Hospital Detoxification units at Vithas Nisa Valencia al Mar and Vithas Nisa Aguas Vivas hospitals, answers all these questions.
In Babies and more Mother's depression during pregnancy could affect the baby's brain Can antidepressants be taken during pregnancy?
"It is not only possible, but also due", says the psychiatrist, since having a major untreated depression during pregnancy is associated with health problems for the baby, such as increased risk of premature delivery, low birth weight, and difficulty in establishing an adequate bond between mother and child.
According to the prestigious Mayo Clinic, the decision to use antidepressants during pregnancy is based on the balance between risks and benefits. In general, the risk of birth defects and other problems for babies of mothers taking antidepressants during pregnancy is very low, but they exist in some drugs. Hence, expressly detail those that are compatible during pregnancy.
Are there any antidepressants contraindicated during pregnancy?
According to the Mayo Clinic, the use of paroxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor paroxetine (Paxil) is not recommended. Some research indicates that paroxetine may be associated with a slight increase in fetal heart defects.
The use of monoamine oxidase inhibitors, including phenelzine (Nardil) and tranylcypromine (Parnate), is not recommended during pregnancy. They could limit fetal growth.
How to diagnose it?
The symptoms are visible in women who have a hard time coping with their daily lives, eat poorly and sleep worse. It would be necessary to assess each particular case, since if left untreated, the risk of postpartum depression and a poor experience in breastfeeding increases.
What if the mother already takes them when she becomes pregnant?
Depending on the medication you are taking and the patient's clinical situation, the doctor can assess the risks and benefits of continuing treatment, and continue taking drugs if it is safe.
From the second trimester, the safety with drugs increases and it is much easier to make the decision to prescribe a treatment and take the medication.
Can they be replaced by an alternative?
Each case must be viewed individually to assess with the mother's psychiatrist if treatment should be discontinued or monitored more closely.
The alternatives, in the event that the pharmacological treatment is suspended, would be to maintain healthy lifestyle habits, reduce situations that generate stress, have a good night's rest and perform some sport appropriate to your state of health, in addition to good support social (family, couple, friends).
At this point, the psychiatrists and scientific advisors of the Anxiety and Depression Treatment Unit of Vithas International, Julio Prieto (specialist in Clinical Neurophysiology) and Gabriel Rubio talk about the neuromodulation with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, as an effective way to treat gestational and postpartum depression, avoiding psychoactive drugs.
This technique consists in the non-invasive application of magnetic stimuli in certain areas of the surface of the brain in order to restore the functioning abnormalities involved in the disease.
Thus it is achieved that those brain circuits that had stopped working properly in the case of depression, normalize their behavior pattern by activating the prefrontal cortex.
As they explain, it is a painless procedure and hardly presents any side effects. That is why it is suitable in gestational and / or postpartum depression, since there are no contraindications.
According to psychiatrists, published studies on the use of this treatment in women with postpartum depression demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique in more than 80% of cases.
In Babies and more More support and fewer judgments: depression is the number one health complication during and after pregnancy What side effects can they have for the baby and his mother?
The latest studies show that there is a group of antidepressants, which are not teratogenic (that produce malformations in the baby).
In Babies and more Antidepressants during pregnancy double the risk of birth defectsTherefore, they could be used with some peace of mind, to treat cases that really have a medical indication. You should be cautious, and carefully assess the risks and benefits of taking medications during pregnancy.
The fact that a mother stops taking them on her own without a medical or psychological accompaniment that helps her cope with her depression can cause a relapse in the disease and hinder her motherhood in the beginning.
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