Perinatal mental health

[Mrselder]

Sorry in advance for the long post.

Im currently 19+3 weeks pregant and my mental health has taken a serious decline this weekend.

I've suffered with depression and anxiety for the last 7 years. Up until last year I was on 150mg sertraline for the depression which I weaned myself off over several months at the beginning of 2018. I'd over come my depression and was then on 80mg propranolol a day to try and manage my anxiety which was a daily battle for me.

Anyway this pregnancy was unplanned and as soon as I found out I was pregnant I stopped the propranolol. This wasn't an issue initially as I was very tired on a night up until around 14 weeks and was managing to fall to sleep quite quickly (this is usually the worst time for my anxiety) so I managed really well. For the last couple of weeks I've noticed my anxiety creeping back and it has absolutely floored me this weekend. I'm also starting to notice triggers for my depression returning, not wanting to leave the house, procrastination etc.

I've called my midwife this evening and left her message asking her to call me back tomorrow (I'm not sure if its her or my gp I would be best speaking to) as I feel I need to get this under control.

Can anyone advise how anxiety and depression is usually managed whilst pregnant?

Thank you if you read all that, I know it's a really long post.

I'm so sorry you're struggling. My situation is a little different but my midwife referred me for a perinatal mental health evaluation at about 18 weeks. I declined further involvement on the basis that I had my own psychiatrist who was managing my MH (including depression and anxiety) and he was very involved in my pregnancy. I think I would have been offered medication and counselling if I'd wanted it though. I've been on 200mg of sertraline throughout and continued to have weekly therapy plus much more regular check ups with my midwife. I also have a care planning meeting scheduled in a week or two with my midwife, HV, perinatal psych and my psych to come up with a post-birth plan to manage the risks around a relapse. I hope your midwife is helpful; I've been impressed so far with the service albeit I've not had to get too involved because of my private psych.

I was prescribed sertraline whilst pregnant by perinatal mental health and a nurse visited me regularly until after the birth.

Thanks for the responses. Theres a new perinatal mental health service in our area so I'm hoping to be referred to them. Its reassuring to know there are options to medicate throughout pregnancy, I didn't think there would be much more than counselling. If my midwife isn't much help I'll go straight to my consultant, I know her on a personal level so I'm sure she would be more than willing to help. I actually feel a bit better, I had a really good cry writing the OP and then had a nice shower. Even though I know I'm far from the only one feeling this way, its reassuring to hear from others x