Many women suffering from anxiety or depression ask the question "Is it safe to use antidepressants during pregnancy?" Exciting new reports from a recent study show that there are no proven harmful effects on fetuses of pregnant women using antidepressants.
Yahoo Parenting reports that the valuable research - which shows that antidepressant use by pregnant women does not cause autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - was done using medical records from the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Reproductive psychiatrist Dr. Carly Snyder from New York City spoke with Yahoo Parenting about the issue at hand, "It's an individual decision, and I think that with pregnancy, every decision is very important and very scary."
Snyder continues, "Every woman wants to make the right choice for her baby, and many think, 'If I just protect my baby by not taking the medication, then everything will be OK.'"
Snyder also explains why it is a mistake for pregnant women with anxiety or depression to not take antidepressant medications in their desire to protect their child from autism, "the underlying illness itself is a huge factor that must be considered in a thoughtful way because you need to have a baseline of stability for mom. Healthy mom, healthy baby."
Yahoo Parenting also points out in their report that the debate about pregnant women's use of antidepressants reached its peak last December when Takoua Bourkhris's study linking the use of antidepressants with the development of autism in children was published in JAMA Pediatrics.
The Postpartum Support International posted on their website that the study may frighten pregnant women with anxiety or depression from using medications. Now that the latest research suggests that it is safe to use antidepressants during pregnancy, many pregnant women with anxiety and depression will finally stop worrying about taking medications for their mental health's wellbeing.
