My doctor, who I absolutely love, told me she was expecting her first child. Of course, she was very excited about this. I told her I was absolutely terrified to have children for fear of falling back into depression. I assumed, of course, that one cannot take antidepressants when one is pregnant or breastfeeding.
I was wrong. She told me that it really was a decision based upon an individual evaluation. I did some reading and knew that some antidepressants were passed through the breast milk. She said yes, that was true, however, it's better to feed a child formula and have a mother who is not depressed than it is to have a depressed mother simply because you can't be a good mom when you're depressed.
I did some digging, and found that indeed this is a common question with women who have been depressed. My doctor told me that the fear of falling back into the hell of depression will cause many women to forgo having children at all.
For some more really good information on the common questions regarding women's mental health, this is a great article on the American Psychiatric Association's web site:
An APA Expert answers Common Questions Regarding Women's Mental Health
I think the most important take from this is that if you are thinking about having children, and have experienced depression in the past, it is vitally important to talk to your doctor about how your medication will mix with your pregnancy and breastfeeding regimen.
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