Can you take anti-depressants during pregnancy?

[SouthEastLondonMummy]

I would like to try for another baby later this year, but am currently on anti-depressants after DD2 was born with lifelong major health problems. Any subsequent pregnancy will be very very stressful. Does anyone know if anti-depressants are safe in pregnancy?

I believe there are some anti d's that are prescribed to pregnant women but i don't think that they are 100% safe.
Maybe someone will know!

I don't know. You could check with your doc but I have to say most medicines are supposed to be out of bounds in pregnancy, even hay fever pills.

Sorry to hear your down. How long have you been on the anti depressants and is there a strategy to get you off them, or are you not really thinking that far ahead?

Probably yes, but they just don't have the information to confirm that they are 100% safe, so tend to err on the side of caution. I.e. balance the potential risks to the baby of taking the ADs against the potential risks to the mother and baby of mother having untreated depression/impact of quality of life on the mother not taking medication. So docs tend to look at it on a case by case basis, not all GPs feel comfortable with prescribing ADs in PG, so it may be necessary to get a referral to a psychiatrist.

I've only been on them for 4 months. Have been back to see doc and she says I should stay on them for at least 6 months. Have not discussed my pregancy plans with her! Now I am able to eat, sleep, function etc., but am scared that I will be terrible if I come off them.

I took Dothiepin, now called Dosulepin during pregnancy. I was lucky in that I used to work for a psychiatrist, so she was able to reassure me that it would be OK to take them. They're one of the older style ads called tricyclics, and what she told me was that there had been a lot more research into their use in pregnancy than the newer SSRI's (eg Prozac). It wasn't completely risk free, but like M2S says, it was a case of weighing up whether the risk of me relapsing if I stopped them was greater than any risk to the baby. They were OK for breastfeeding too.

i agree with surfer and mummy to steven.

i was on them for my pregnancy, i have no idea how they ahve affected my dd, as they are new anti's, yet i wouldnt have survived without them.

Don't worry about coming off them, you wont have to if your gp says you should stay on them.