Anti-depressants in pregnancy?

[QueenofDreams]

A friend of the family is pregnant with her second child. SHe suffered badly with AND and PND with her first. Apparently her doctor told her to come in if she felt that it was happening again, so that she could get the care she needs. Unfortunately, she feels that depression is setting in and went to the doctors. However, her usual doctor is now on maternity leave, and the doctors she saw were most unhelpful and refused to prescribe her anything. They told her she cares more for herself than her baby, and finished with 'well I could prescribe something but it will kill your baby' I was pretty bloody shocked when I heard this, but I'm sure I've known mums on MN who've used AD's in pregnancy?
Can someone tell me which Anti-depressants are safe in pregnancy, and give any advice on how this girl should proceed now?

[thisisyesterday]

are you sure they actually said that??? those exact words??
if so she needs to complain, now!

yes, there are plenty of ad's that are safe in pregnancy. i believe most SSRI's and tricyclics are generally fine during pregnancy

[japhrimel]

That's awful.

What she needs to do is put in a complaint about that doctor and insist on seeing someone else.

Leaving depression untreated can be worse than taking meds in pregnancy and there are plenty of meds that have been taken by many pregnant women just fine. Obviously there are always small risks, so you wouldn't want to take them unless you needed to, but they certainly don't kill the baby!

Motherisk are the international experts on medications whilst pregnant and breastfeeding. I know they have info on anti-depressants for doctors. Maybe you could print some out for your friend?

www.motherisk.org/women/index.jsp

[WildSheepChase]

I took 20mg seroxat (an SSRI) throughout my pregnancy. I was even cleared to breastfeed on that dose, too.

[Raahh]

That is dreadful.

I am on pg3 and have been on ads for 15 years. There has never been any question of me coming off them. Some are safer than others (only in that there is more research during pregnancy, i think ), so depending on what she has used in the past, they may have advised changing her meds.

I have been on fluoxetine (prozac), which is meant to be ok (and I have two , soon to be 3, very healthy kids!).

She must see someone else.

[QueenofDreams]

Thanks so much ladies. I knew that had to be a load of bollocks.
I can't be 100% sure that those exact words were spoken as this is second hadn information. I don't know the girl well as she is a friend of IL's family, not a close personal friend. From what I've seen, she does have a tendency to be a bit melodramatic at times, but I wouldn't want to dismiss this out of hand because of that. There's no harm in passing the information on. And if this is true then it could do her a world of good.

[weegiemum]

If this was said to her, she must complain.

I took 150mg Sertraline right through 2 pregnancies and also while bf (up to 200mg) and was fine, as are my children.

[Duritzfan]

I am taking sertraline too ( 20 weeks pregnant) - just a low dose but my fabulous psych went through all the papers with me and we chose that one as it was proving to be the lowest risk .. of course there's a risk, but I have suffered extreme PND and for me this is preventative ... No drugs are a good idea in pregnancy but there are those of us who need them - and there are always relatively low risk drugs to help ..
our friend should complain like crazy ! it makes me so mad when the medical profession speak to people like that ... as if we take these damn drugs for the hell of it - I have been made to feel like a drug addict too before but have now learned to ignore them ..

Huge good vibes to your friend - shes luck to have you OP...x

ps I have also taken Effexor through pregnancy - until the sixth month - and delivered a gorgeous little girl with no trouble...