Antidepressants can help people control and relieve their symptoms. However, taking antidepressants during pregnancy needs to be carefully considered because it can cause adverse effects on the health of the pregnant mother and the fetus.
Should pregnant women take antidepressants?
Depression during pregnancy is no longer a new problem because the changes inside the mother’s body along with external influences are easy to affect the psychology of the pregnant mother. If this mental health condition is not detected and treated properly, it will cause a lot of adverse effects on the health of pregnant women and fetuses.
Experts say that if depression is not treated during pregnancy, the risk of postpartum depression is very high, even the severity increases. At the same time, negative emotions can affect the health and emotions of young children, babies can be irritable, lethargic, and underweight.
However, the treatment of depression during pregnancy encounters quite a few obstacles because if not chosen the right method, it can cause severe effects for mother and baby. Until now, there is no specific and accurate information about the use of antidepressants in pregnant women.
Usually the drugs commonly used for depression patients such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants, etc. However, all of these drugs have their own side effects. Because of the risk of unwanted side effects, you need to carefully weigh the risks and benefits before using the drug.
Typically, psychotherapy will always be preferred for depression during pregnancy and most other mental illnesses. This is a safe form done by talking and exchanging directly to help patients change their negative perceptions and behaviors.
However, for severe cases, the patient exhibits risky behaviors, self-harm or suicidal thoughts, still must be supported with some combination of anti-depressants. The use of drugs for pregnant patients needs to be prescribed and guided specifically by specialists, psychiatrists.
Before deciding to use medication, doctors will carefully weigh the benefits and risks of this method. In general, the risk of birth defects or other health problems for babies when pregnant women use antidepressants is very low. Usually, the doctor will prescribe the drug with a low dose but still achieve the effectiveness for the treatment process, especially in the first 3 months of pregnancy.
Effects of taking antidepressants during pregnancy
As shared above, taking antidepressants during pregnancy also carries a lot of risks. The body of a pregnant woman is very sensitive, if not cared for and given special support, it can cause many negative effects on the health of both mother and fetus.
That’s why experts often recommend that women with depression should treat their depression completely and stop using the drug for a fixed period of time before trying to get pregnant. If during pregnancy, pregnant women appear sad, depressed, lose interest in life, have suicidal thoughts, hurt themselves, they will be considered to control with drugs.
The combination of psychotherapy and antidepressants will help shorten the time of treatment, and prevent the risk of postpartum depression or harmful behaviors. However, antidepressants have the potential to be harmful and give rise to many side effects.
Some harmful effects that can occur when pregnant women take antidepressants during pregnancy such as:
- Premature birth: In many scientific studies, when women take antidepressants during pregnancy, it can lead to increased gestational blood pressure, a high risk of miscarriage or premature birth. In addition, babies born before 37 weeks are more likely to have other mental health problems.
- Withdrawal syndrome in infants: If pregnant women use many antidepressants such as Amitriptyline or Sertraline, there is an increased risk of neonatal withdrawal syndrome. Babies are born with sleep disturbances, tremors, increased muscle tone, digestive problems, constant crying, high-pitched cries for no reason.
- Increased risk of birth defects and teratogens: In a study that was conducted on 400 pregnant women using antidepressants found that the risk of birth defects and birth defects was higher than normal.
- Serotonin syndrome: Scientists say that if pregnant women use the antidepressant paroxetine, it can increase the risk of experiencing symptoms of serotonin syndrome, which can even appear in the fetus.
- Autism spectrum disorder: In some studies, it has been found that taking antidepressants during pregnancy, especially SSRI drugs, increases the risk of autism spectrum disorders, causing children to gradually lose the ability to interact with children. society.
- Umbilical hernia: In recent times, scientific studies continue to show that taking the drug during pregnancy can increase the risk of causing the baby to have an umbilical cord rupture. This is a condition in which a part of the navel is exposed to the outside, the belly button swells, easily leading to injury to the abdominal cavity and infection.
- Children with brain damage or jaundice: In addition to drugs to treat depression, some sedative drugs, if used too much, can also disrupt bilirubin metabolism, causing jaundice or even brain damage.
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy can cause a lot of bad effects on the health of pregnant women and children. Therefore, mothers need to be really careful if they are prescribed medication to treat during pregnancy, although strictly follow the instructions of a specialist doctor.
Some notes when taking antidepressants during pregnancy
Not only antidepressants, but most medications have the potential to cause unwanted side effects, especially when used during pregnancy. However, for depression, the use of medication is sometimes unavoidable. Therefore, before making a decision, the doctor and the patient will discuss and carefully consider the benefits and possible risks of using the drug.
To minimize the negative effects of the drug, pregnant women should pay attention to the following issues:
- Share and declare specifically about your current health status, allergy history, medications that have been and are being used to minimize the prescription of drug interactions.
- Strictly follow the doctor’s instructions for using the medicine, take the right medicine, at the right dose and at the right time.
- Absolutely do not arbitrarily buy drugs to use without the consent of experts. If there is a need to use any additional drugs or other functional foods, you should consult and discuss carefully with your doctor.
- Pregnant women should not stop taking the drug suddenly without consulting a specialist. Stopping taking antidepressants must be guided by specific instructions from a specialist to avoid serious, even life-threatening consequences for mother and baby.
- Treatment for depression requires a combination of medication and psychotherapy to be effective. For mild cases, whose symptoms do not affect health and life, psychotherapy can be applied independently to ensure safety.
- If you have any unusual symptoms during the course of taking the drug, you should immediately notify your treating doctor for instructions on how to handle and correct them promptly.
- Patients also need to pay attention to their daily diet, supplementing with foods rich in beneficial vitamins and minerals to restore better health.
- Daily exercise and exercise regimes also play an important role in the treatment of depression. Depending on the health status of each pregnant woman, you should choose appropriate exercise exercises such as walking, meditation, yoga, swimming, ….
- The quality of sleep also needs to be taken care of and improved. A full and sufficient sleep will greatly help the physical and mental health of pregnant women.
- Pregnant women should confide and share more with relatives and friends to relieve pressure, stress and fatigue during pregnancy.
- Families, especially husbands, should spend a lot of time caring, caring and sharing the burdens of pregnant women, helping them feel more comfortable and happy during pregnancy.
- If you feel stressed, sad, or have negative thoughts, you should take time to rest, relax, apply therapies such as listening to music, soaking your feet in warm water, reading books, watching movies, taking care of bonsai, ….
- Pregnant women need to be re-examined on time so that the doctor can examine and clearly monitor the health status of mother and fetus, and promptly detect abnormal signs.
Taking antidepressants during pregnancy can cause a lot of serious harm to the health of pregnant women and children. Hopefully, through the information of the above article, mothers will know how to prevent possible dangerous consequences, and be more conscious to protect their health and prevent depression during pregnancy.
