Antidepressants during pregnancy

[AlwaysHopefull89]

Has anyone taken any antidepressants during pregnancy and if so is there any risk associated? It is mainly for anxiety not a ‘low’ mood as such.

Thanks for any comments.

Hi OP i have and everything was absolutely fine. I took sertraline, lowered it from 100mg to 50mg while I was ttc, then stayed on 50mg throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding. Had full support of my GP. One of my friends did the same. Your mental health is extremely important and your baby will likely be fine. Worth chatting through concerns with your GP but its very common for women to continue on ADs in pregnancy.

Thank you so much. I have them on repeat prescription but I haven’t taken them for a long time maybe 3 years now as haven’t felt the need to. I have just found out I am expecting twins in April and I’m very sadly struggling to come to terms with it. DH is fine but I am feeling a lot of anxiety and I sit in my head a lot. I suffered with bad postnatal anxiety with DD who is 3 now and I’m fine but I feel like it’s coming back now especially now we are expecting twins!

I feel so very guilty for feeling like this and I think I either need to put a myself on something or speak to someone.

Definitely talk to your GP. I went on ADs after the birth of my first - i had terrible postnatal depression and anxiety - and have remained on them. My pregnancy and post partum with my second was far far better mentally and emotionally. Dont feel like you have to suffer

Also....congratulations!!!

Thank you so much @SE20schoolsin hoping it’s better this time around as mine was also awful before (just with 1!)

I’m currently 6 weeks pregnant and am on 150mg of Sertraline. I’ve been on this for years with doses increasing and decreasing depending on life events which have affected my mental health. I spoke to the GP as soon as I found out I was pregnant as this was a concern for me. She said my mental health is important and we need to weigh up the risks of being on it or coming off it. For me personally right now it is better I remain on sertraline, but the doctor also mentioned if at any point I feel like I could reduce it then that’s something we could look into. Even if we can drop 50mg. But it’s all dependent on how I feel in myself with my mental health. If it needs reducing and then increasing again that is something we can do. When I have my booking appointment in a couple of weeks I’ll be mentioning this to my midwife and expressing my concerns as it is still a worry for me. We have to look after ourselves as well as baby which is what I keep telling myself. Definitely speak to someone regarding how you are feeling, you need to look after yourself to look after ur twins growing and ur other child! Sending you so much love xxxx

https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/sertraline/pregnancy-breastfeeding-and-fertility-while-taking-sertraline/

Thanks all x

@AlwaysHopefull89 i Haven’t taken them during pregnancy, but I have twins who just turned 2, I got bad ppd and ppr and I have been on AD since my twins were about 10 weeks old i think, I would recommend taking them, ppd can hit twice as bad with twins and is a much higher risk/likely for us. If you can prevent, or protect your mental health prior to having them it will be so worth it.
I have had occasions where i forget to collect my prescription for a few days and the depression and anxiety hits like a freight train (currently why im on the mumsnet threads)
i wont sugarcoat it, twins are hard as hell..every stage, but i promise it is so worth it and you will find your way through it all. Schedule is key, try prep and freeze some meals for when you return from hospital, get your online shopping list saved so you just have to add to cart and order delivery, ask for help, dont be too proud to ask, people love helping and it dwindles when they turn 2, so take full advantage while you can. Best of luck, dm me if you have any twin questions x

I was prescribed sertraline 50 mg due to anxiety and PTSD not low mood or depression etc., last year we lost our baby at 16 weeks, Two months after that, we got married and then 18 days after my Grandad passed away. So to say 2024 was traumatic is an understatement. And when I was under a lot of stress at work, I had a breakdown. Went sick from work for two months and after trying to conceive for over a year we Conceived and we found out in August! I’m now due in April 2026.

I was taking sertraline 50 mg but as soon as I found out I was pregnant I stopped taking it. Because I didn’t know what the effect would be. I’ve only recently re-downloaded Pregnancy baby apps, etc. As we hit the 16 week mark.

I’m considering starting to take them again due to my anxiety, the doctor did say she has put me on the lowest dose in case we did conceive and it would be safe to continue taking them but as I stopped in August, I’m assuming it would it be okay to Start taking them now again? My anxiety is through the roof with this pregnancy, I’ve had intensive CBT (Due to what happened last year), I do feel it’s had a positive impact, But now because I’m starting to feel movements (18 weeks on Tuesday) if I don’t fill those movements, my anxiety heightens and I just over think everything even though I know it’s still early! I’ve recently got a Doppler too!

BUMPs (best use of medications in pregnancy) is a good website for telling you any risks.
I have been on citalopram throughout IVF and my pregnancy.