Sertraline during 2nd and 3rd tri

[MammaMia1234]

Hello - I am in my 2nd tri now and have struggled by with fairly high levels of anxiety up until now, and had perinatal ocd diagnosed. This is all new to me and have not had to battle with this in previous pregnancies. I have been advised that sertraline would help with the anxiety but as the doctor keeps talking about the risks without actually referring to what they are I have had to do quite a bit of research myself. I know I am out of the woods in terms of problems with defects etc as I am past the 1st tri but I have seen some worrying reports on autism, adhd etc. I know there is no definite link but it doesn't ease the concern. I am struggling right now without meds but clearly don't want to put my baby at risk. I would love to hear from any other women who have taken this drug during pregnancy and how it turned out for you and if it helped with anxiety/ocd symptoms. Thank you v much

Hi, i took setraline for severe anxiety during my last pregnancy my son will be 2 in a few weeks and he is fine. It helped alot with my anxiety, it was out if control and I was having intrusive thoughts when i started taking it at about 18 weeks, i took it untill my son was a few months.

Im pregnant again and still suffer with anxiety but atm i have it under control.

You no your own mind and it you feel like you need to take it then you should. Xx

Hi there!

I took sertraline throughout my first pregnancy, and throughout breastfeeding (long term mild depression due to ME/CFS) and I would have really struggled without it. My son is now 4.5 and absolutely fine. Only problem he ever had was a slight tremor which resolved itself 3 days after birth and may or may not have been due to withdrawal (the docs were not concerned in the slightest).

I am now 37 weeks pregnant with no.2 and there was never any suggestion that i should come off sertraline. I think the general view is that the benefits of a healthy, relaxed mum outweigh the small risks of taking certain anti-depressants during pregnancy. It is of course completely your choice, but pregnancy is hard enough without additional anxiety and ocd. If you feel the medication would help you, i would seriously consider it.

Good luck!

I am on sertraline and nearly 32 weeks preganant. My gp has been really unhelpful about the whole issue and basically told me to come off it if I wanted to, but was really vague about the risks of doing so versus not doing so. I have reduced my dose to 25mg a day and may just stay on that for the rest of the pregnancy.