Healthy baby when taking sertaline?

[Catsandkittens638297]

Iv been taking 50mg of sertaline since march this year and I feel much better!
However I'm 16weeks pregnant and at my booking appointment the midwife said that sertaline can cause breathing issues & issues with babies lungs but that it was rare and to carry on taking them.

Today I had my 16w appointment & asked about having a home birth & they I'd probably not be able to because I take the tablets which may cause issues with the baby!

Has anyone taken sertaline & it affect the baby?

I honestly can't remember how pregnant I was when I stopped taking Sertraline (over 12 weeks is all I can think of), my GP said tiny chance of heart defects but the midwives never said anything other than to check on my MH.

I have DD at home by accident but I think I could have had a planned home birth if I'd wanted, no one ever said anything about expecting baby not being perfectly healthy. She's a normal annoying bouncy 2 year old now.

I didn’t take sertraline while pregnant but did carry on with my fluoxetine through both pregnancies.

In my experience sertraline is the drug they’d prefer you to take, I was told it was the one that was considered most safest and the one with most research. One GP told me to stop taking all of my medication with immediate effect - that was followed closely by midwife and another GP saying absolutely do not do that! I was consultant led and they much preferred I took the tablets rathe than try stopping while pregnant.

Can’t comment on the home birth but I had 2 great labours/deliveries and 6 hour discharges with both of them, no side effects were observed.

Lots of people do choose to stop but for me it wasn’t worth the risk. That’s my experience anyway

I am currently 22+4 and taking 50mg of Sertraline daily. I was taking citalopram when I fell pregnant, my GP told me to stop immediately which I did (6 weeks pregnant) this resulted me my MH spiralling out of control, I was having daily panic attacks and my I felt dangerously low. It scared me.

I stuck it out till my booking appointment at 10 weeks where the midwife couldn’t believe her ears and told me to go home and called GP and ask to be put back on antidepressants. She recommended sertraline over citalopram. All midwifes since have said my MH is so important, and if I’m not well my baby won’t be well.

I haven’t had to have an extra care and my anomaly scan went perfectly.

To me if you need to sertraline you need them. Please don’t go cold turkey like I was told too. Scariest time of my life.

I am afraid I don't know anything about birth but just wanted to say good for you staying on them while pregnant. It's absolutely the right thing to do. I recently moved onto sertraline from citalopram as we are thinking of TTC our second baby next year. Like @MooseyGoose90 I came off citalopram during my last pregnancy and my mental health completely went to shit and I developed bad antenatal depression and suffered panic attacks. I wish I'd stayed on them now.

Next time around my GP has advised that I stay on anti depressants and that sertraline is safest whilst breastfeeding and so little gets through in the milk and that it's prob also best in pregnancy. She said with taking ADs you need to weigh up the risks and an episode of bad mental health is a worse and bigger risk than any issues from the AD themselves which are highly unlikely. I have heard about potential breathing issues after birth but they are rare, temporary and resolved quickly.

Could you talk to perinatal mental health? They are far more likely to have this kind of specialist knowledge. I hope you get the birth you want.