Women with mood and anxiety disorders commonly avoid taking psychotropic medications while they are attempting to conceive or while they are pregnant or breastfeeding, for fear of harming their infants. Physicians balk at prescribing medications for these women for the same reason.
But not receiving effective treatment for an active psychiatric illness while pregnant or nursing poses dangers too. Mood and anxiety disorders may hamper a woman’s ability to take care of herself and her infant, impairing the infant’s development in utero and after birth.
"At our clinic, we see hundreds of women with psychiatric illnesses who have questions about medications in pregnancy," said Lee Cohen, MD, who directs the perinatal and reproductive psychiatry clinical research program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "Nearly half say they were told not to get pregnant by their psychiatrist or other mental health professional, obstetrician, primary care physician, partner, or family.
. . . [Full Text of this Article]
RELAPSE RISK
