In recent years, women have been advised to avoid medications during pregnancy and while breastfeeding their infants; yet, at the same time, some conditions pregnant women suffer such as hypertension (high blood pressure), asthma, epilepsy and depression require long-term and continued medication management.
It appears as though pregnant women suffering from depression may be in a no-win situation because failure to manage depression with continued SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) medication may affect the health of both mother and child. However, in February 2006, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study indicating that mothers taking SSRI antidepressants after the 20th week of pregnancy were six times more likely to give birth to an infant with a serious heart defect than mothers not taking SSRI antidepressants.
Depression is a serious illness that often carries with it an increased risk of suicide in the sufferer and should be treated by your doctor(s). For decades, SSRIs have helped thousands of men and women fight depression. However, the statistics clearly show that there are serious risks involved with taking SSRI medication during pregnancy.