Ethical and Clinical Dilemmas in Using Psychotropic Medications During Pregnancy.
Approximately 15 percent of women experience depression while pregnant or in the year following pregnancy. While antidepressants are usually effective and considered standard treatment for depression, concerns arise that what might be good for mom could be harmful for the baby. Medical evidence demonstrates that, on balance, treating mental illness with psychotropic medication along with talk therapy is in the best interest of both mother and baby; however, women may resist treatment because they overestimate the risks of medication and underestimate the risks of untreated mental illness. Clinicians can help address this perceived ethical dilemma and provide optimum care to their pregnant patients by collaborating with their patients on a treatment plan, informing them about the risks of untreated mental illness, and providing reassurance that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and many other psychotropic medications are appropriate care even if a woman is pregnant or breastfeeding.
Associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in Baltimore.
Andrea L
AL
Kalfoglou
D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000188:drug therapy; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010358:Patient Participation; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012306:Risk; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors