Pregnant Women, New Mothers and Doctors Disagree about Depression Meds
November 13, 2007 by kate baggott
Filed under Mental Health
Is it safe for pregnant women to take medication for depression while pregnant?
According to a new study from the Society for Women’s Health Research, only 10 per cent of women think it is safe. 68% of doctors believe taking medication for depression during pregnancy is safe.
About 50% of women believe it’s safe to take the drugs during the postpartum period. 97% of doctors think it is safe.
Why the huge gap?
Women may believe that feeling depressed during pregnancy and after giving birth is normal and, it is true that hormonal changes do make women more likely to become depressed.
“Women’s bodies undergo changes in hormone levels during key life cycle transitions from puberty to menopause,” Sherry Marts, Ph.D., vice president of scientific affairs for the Society for Women’s Health Research. “Most women navigate these transitions with minimal mood disturbances, but some women experience mood disorders such as depression or bipolar disorder. We need more research to understand the underlying mechanisms in the brain where mood disorders are triggered by hormone changes. Women need to be aware of this issue and talk to their health care providers about their individual risk factors, warning signs and treatment options if needed.”
The good news is that is doesn’t have to be and depression should not remain untreated.
“Many pregnant and postpartum women falsely think that depressive symptoms, and even clinical depression, are part of the normal experiences of being pregnant and delivering a baby,” said Dr. Kimberly Yonkers, an associate professor of psychiatry and obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale University School of Medicine. “Moreover, they often assume that these symptoms will spontaneously go away when that is not always the case. There are a range of treatments available to women and we need to get the message out and encourage depressed women to access care for their emotional symptoms.
There are a number of initiatives underway ranging from politically mandated patient education to giving doctors guidelines about how to talk to new mothers about depression.
One thing is certain, if we don’t work together to close this gap, women suffering from depression and their children are going to continue to suffer and that, is a terrible fact.
There was a study within the past year or two that suggested that mothers’ untreated depression was harmful to their children, and put them at greater risk for depression, themselves, which should also be taken into consideration when deciding how to treat depression.
You’re right Rat, depressed mothers are not good for children. Families are mutually dependent organisms. I think I blogged that study under “treat mom, cure kids”