Venlafaxine in pregnancy

[Crazydaisy21]

I used to take sertraline and just before I started IVF my GP started me on venlafaxine instead because of the side effects.
My IVF clinic knew I was taking this and luckily I was successful on my first round. I am currently 31+1 and had a consultant appointment where it was decided for various reasons I would have an elective C section but he was really shocked that I was taking venlafaxine during pregnancy. I told him I have passed three clinical people who knew I was pregnant and taking this and no one queried it at all, and I remember specifically asking the midwife at my booking appointment if it was ok to continue taking and she said yes.
He said it can cause withdrawal effects in baby and I had read it can cause breathing issues at birth but that there is very little days really which is why it wouldn't be the chosen anti depressant so now I'm super super worried about baby at birth. Im very anxious with it being an IVF pregnancy anyways but I was just wondering if anyone on here takes it or has took it during pregnancy, and how was the baby as I am so worried? He said there's no point in stopping it now with how close to birth I am.

I had to take venlafaxine throughout my pregnancy with DC2, I reduced the dose before becoming pregnant and came off it totally at 37 weeks because of potential withdrawal symptoms for the baby. DC is 21 now and a fully functioning adult. Unfortunately I didn't go back on immediately after birth because of breast feeding and ended up have a breakdown, so definitely discuss with your prescriber the best course of action. The obstetricians weren't phased by me on it and were accepting that it was necessary at the time

Ask for a consultation with a perinatal psychiatrist. These are the best people to talk to about psychiatric medication in pregnancy.

I don't know about venlafaxine specifically but they usually talk about poor neonatal adaptation syndrome now rather than withdrawal. This is where baby struggles to adapt to the outside world in the days after birth. It can affect their ability to regulate their temperature and breathing. This affects about 10% of babies and certain medication increase this risk. I'm on quetiapine and that comes with a 30% risk of this happening so when I've given birth my baby gets monitored for 3 days where they check their pulse, Oxygen levels, temperature and a few other things every 4h. My daughter passed everyone with a perfect score and we were discharged home. I'm pregnant again and they will do the same.

I was briefly put on venlafaxine when I was breastfeeding my daughter by a perinatal psychiatrist, I just thought I'd mention that in case it was another concern

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