Anti-depressants and breast feeding

[Starshiptrooper]

Has anyone been prescribed anti-d's while breast feeding? I have been offered them and told that the one they want to give me - Sertraline or something - has no known harmful effects on the baby, but then again, there hasn't been much research done. I don't know what to do. The other option would be to swap her to formula but that's easier said than done because she's never taken a bottle (is 19 weeks). I just don't know what to do.

The benefits of you managing to continue bf would far outweigh any side effects. There are currently no known side effects for the baby. This happened to me when ds was born. Consultant spent many hours researching it for me and was more than happy that I take the ads and bf rather than swap to ff.

I was on Paroxetine when I was breastfeeding which is an SSRI used for depression. My dd was seven monmths when I started using it. I was on 30mg a day, and when I got iot my GP looked in the book that they have to check if it's ok to use whilst breastfeeding or pregnant etc andit said that there were no harmful effects reported but I agree with you that because there isn't enough research done it is worrying to take because you can't help being concerned of course. My dd is a perfectly healthy 2yo but of course it's always in the back of my mind about what I took. On the other hand, when I got pregnant the second time, I stopped taking them immediately even though there were other options available to take and some women take anti depressants throughout pregancy and their babies do ok as my GP said.

My advice to you would be to double check, get a second opinion from som eone else and maybe do some research about the one you have been prescribed and if you are in too much doubt then I would switch to formula. It would be hard at first but they soon get used to it. Sorry I can't be more help, but with things like this it's hard to have any concrete evidence for the effects, if any. Good luck.