sorry but this sounds insane to me. SO, you have a few months were you are feeling sad depressed etc. that is better than a lifetime of struggling with a child with birth defects, and bringing a child into the world iwth a severe disadvantage? The risk reward does not sound right. If one is so freaking depressed the alternative is suicide or keep taking the med, and one has that little of a grip on reality, um, maybe you should not be having a baby at all?? This sounds insane in my opinion.

I propose a "ditto" on not getting pregnant while on anti-depressants or while being depressed. Who knows what it could morph into either way. Andrea Yates was finally released from prison to enter a mental hospital and get a new trial I don't understand why the average American is still so medieval about mental illness.

Two things:

1. Clearly JJS, you have no idea what depression is if you write it off as just feeling "sad." Depression can be crippling, and going off one's meds can be devestating and possibly cause serious harm in a person (and if that person's a pregnant woman, that means serious harm to a fetus).

2. Glad that you are against women with depression reproducing. I'd like to say the same thing about cheesy pop tart singers, members of the NRA, and Pat Robertson. Unfortunately, no one granted me the right to tell these people what to do with their bodies. The reality is that sometimes pregnancies happen and SOMETIMES, I know this is hard to believe, but SOMETIMES women cannot obtain an abortion.

Furthermore, this country is downright obsessed with birthing babies. People with depression have the same right to get caught up in the baby love as do felons and Republicans and lawyers. We should trust women and their doctors to do what is best for both the woman and her fetus/baby. We really need to stop with the mock outrage when a pregnant woman ingests raw fish or has a drink or smokes. There is a difference between caring for a pregnant loved one and offering support and damning random pregnant women to hell who are not following the diet/health regimen that we think is best for them.

So, if taking anti-depressants will help out a pregnant woman and carries a lesser risk to the fetus, why the hell not.

Not to mention the fact that pregnancy can actually bring on depression. What would you propose then, JJS?

My last pregnancy brought with it a raging case of pre-partum depression. It wasn't merely "feeling sad", it was incapacitating. Luckily, my doctor decided that the health of the mother was as important as the health of the baby and put me on anti-depressants after my first trimester. They worked wonders, and my daughter was born whole and healthy.

I'm really surprised by the judgmental tone of the comments so far -- unusual for this blog. Some women are depressed before or after pregnancy, some develop it during pregnancy. There are all kinds of conditions, from diabetes to arthritis, that can affect a pregnancy. Should only women in perfect health be allowed to get pregnant? As a veteran gestator/depression patient, here's my perspective. Your own experiences, of course, may vary.

I've carried three PGs to term. With the first I was on a very low "maintenance dose" of Prozac. My doctors and midwife all agreed that I could have taken more, but I wanted to be on the lowest dose possible for my own peace of mind. My docs said I was much less likely to develop postpartum depression if I stayed on the meds, and that would benefit the baby as well as me (babies of moms with untreated depression tend to have developmental delays). I was also told it would be fine to breastfeed while on antidepressants so I did. My son is now nearly seven, very smart and very healthy.

With pregnancy 2, I had been off antidepressants for more than a year and did not become depressed during gestation. Unfortunately, that baby strangled on the umbilical cord and was stillborn. Not surprisingly, I went back on antidepressants. I was not suicidal and I was not Andrea Yates. I was dealing with the death of a child and trying to be in the best possible mental shape to help my son deal with it, too.

Pregnancy 3, still on zoloft after the stillbirth, baby comes out fine. Multiple sonograms in utero showed his organs to be formed properly. During this pg, my doctor told me that not only is it safer for me and the baby if I remain on zoloft, but that studies by a researcher at Emory show that children of mothers with bipolar disorder are less likely to develop the condition as adolescents if their mothers took their meds during pregnancy. My youngest son is healthy and bright. I am healthy and able to keep up with my kids because my depression is managed properly.

With all three pregnancies, I asked my doctors about the possibility of birth defects because some do run in my family (all born to moms not on medication) and I wanted to make sure I was making the best choices I could. In all cases, I was told that the risk of severe PPD was greater than the risk of birth defects, which are a risk in any pregnancy. The risk of defects from SSRIs is small and not in the same league as with drugs like Accutane and Thalidomide. Other medical conditions carry their own risks to the fetus and mother.

Please don't compare the average mother with depression to Andrea Yates. Yates had a much rarer condition called postpartum psychosis, which really *is* a medical contraindication for further pregnancies -- a contraindication she and her husband apparently ignored. She also did not have proper medical care or social support. What happened to her and her children is a horror story, but it did not happen to me, my mother, my aunt, or any of the half-dozen women I know personally who have had both depression and children.

Sorry to crab at length, but I get tired of the judgement and shaming surrounding women's -- and especially mothers' -- depression.

C and tajour, I was not referring to you when I talked about judgmental comments. You two rock on this topic.

qusan... funny that you mention being medieval about mental health... 'cos the logical conclusion of forced sterility for people receiving treatment for mental health issues sure seems pretty medieval to me...

kcb, c, and tajour... y'all rock...

for real... kcb, thanks for sharing your story a bit... i hope it tempers what judgement crap some folks may come up with down the road... and you sound like a wonderful parent.

I have been on Paxil since 1994. I have gone through two pregnancies while on Paxil. I have two healthy happy children. If I get pregnant again, I will stay on my Paxil.

Riigght. excuses, excuses. who is talking about forced sterilazation? No one. SOmething can be ethically wrong and not be against the law.

It is pretty stupid in my opinion to get pregnant and intend to have the child if you have serious health problems, or if you have health problems that could cause the baby to come out defective, or you are so unbelievably selfish you would rather keep smoking and drinking like a fish while carrying it to term.
Not only increasing the spector of serious defects, but also problems like Low IQ.

Seriously, i think there is a knee jerk reaction on some peoples part if any judgement is placed on women's activity. What next, a female boxer will be admired because she steps into the ring before the do-date, cause well no real women lets concern for a future child step in the way of her whims.

I do know about depression and its debilitating effects. and yea people with a serious serious problem that can't even go off medication for a few months less risk sticking a shotgun in their mouth, or whatever, well they should not be having babies if they have any brains or ethics at all. Yea, legally they can but its just plain stupid, cause you are increasingly likely not just to f*ck the kid up before birth, but also create a f*cked up individual through your poor, unstable parenting.

If you want to carry a baby to term, and choose to be a mom, in my opinion any ethically sound person will do their best to contribute to the future babies health. Give up the drink, drug, and smokes, etc. Hey if you relish the thought of creating a child that suffers through life with mental or physical defects, and relish the thought of being the constant caretaker for the next 20 years or even its life, or relish what it would be like to abandon a child in an institution, well, then just ignore common sense.

Part of being pro-choice is also realizing that when you DO choose yes to a child, that you do your best to bring it up in a healthy fashion. If u can't do this or refuse to, please for the sake of everyone just don't have it.

Thanks for that rational, informed and well-thought-out rebuttal, JJS. This was my favorite fragment, for a number of reasons:

"Not only increasing the spector of serious defects, but also problems like Low IQ."

Low IQ. Heaven forbid!

Have a good weekend.

"Furthermore, this country is downright obsessed with birthing babies."

as a side note i found this to be an interesting comment.

Yes, human beings, like all animals, and like all other living things, are programmed to reproduce, in one way or another. to think it is just "this country" or even "humans" that are "obsessed with birthing" is to be ignorant of much of the functioning of the natural word.

What is actually unnatural is that we (humans) have interfeared with the desire to reproduce and "birthing" to the extent that we have. That may be a good thing, but THAT is the abberation, rather than our desire to make babies.

JesusJones: You are being extremely judgemental.

I think you should stop it, and listen to yourself.

I think you have some "issues" around this topic.

Perhaps you ought to go examine your own issues before lashing out at people and making some very insulting suggestions.

It is not up to *you* to decide who can have babies and who shouldn't. The women's stories posted above are perfectly normal, reasonable situations.

You should be ashamed of yourself for inferring that they will raise, as you said, f***ed up children.

"What is actually unnatural is that we (humans) have interfeared with the desire to reproduce and "birthing" to the extent that we have. That may be a good thing, but THAT is the abberation, rather than our desire to make babies."

Are you serious? Have you been out and about in our fine country that exists right beyond your computer?

First of all, your argument that "biology says so" is conclusory, over-simplified, and unhelpful. Biology tells us a lot of things. Biology told my hamster to eat her babies. Even if I agreed with your silly proposition that biology instills in us a desire to make a lot of babies (which I don't), I would argue that the purpose of our culture/civilization/society is to digest those biological impulses and respond to them in a way that takes into consideration our rational thought process and our concern for those around us. Otherwise, we could go around killing each other because biology said so.

Anyways, getting to the crux of my post: Our country is most definitely obsessed with children. The baby clothing/toy/carriage business is multi-kabillion dollar. We are obsessed with "youth culture." We want our kids to have perfectly scheduled little childhoods.

Our obsession apparently gives us the right to intrude on women's lives (and to a lesser extent, men's lives) when children are involved. We want to touch pregnant women's bellies (without asking), we want to tell them what to eat. We think women have not truly become women until they have become knocked up. We want the women to raise our kids (biology says so!). We want women to stop pretending like they can run the company or the country because WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

Of course, the flip side of this is that we also revel in damning women to their destined role as mother. Single moms and working moms don't spend enough time with their kids. Stay at home moms spend too much time with their kids. Women who have illnesses who have kids are bad, selfish people.

I think, JJS, that you need to recognize that maybe you (and me, and that other guy) don't know what's best for each and every woman out there. And just because they're pregnant doesn't make you any more the boss of her. So unless you're going to flash some medical credentials at me and/or reveal that you are in fact god, then I think we all maybe should trust women and their doctors to do what's best for them, and to support them in their decisions.

I've not yet read the study, but when I heard the news -- maybe on NPR? -- I thought it was interesting that someone thought that pregnancy could cure depression, anyway. Yeah, I know, not that simple -- it's the hormones, silly -- but still, I thought it sounded odd/funny.

"You should be ashamed of yourself for inferring that they will raise, as you said, f***ed up children"

Hardly. It is my opinion. My opinion is mine, and when I voice it I am hardly imposing on others, im not trying to pass any law. See tx, sometimes you have to stir up the pot a bit.

C, it is not exactly that biology says so. no one tells an apple tree to flower, seed, etc it just does. No one "tells" us to reproduce, it is jsut a part of our nature, both physical and psychological. If it was not we would not exist.
We modify and shape that desire to make our lives better, the same way we do all things.

"Our country is most definitely obsessed with children. The baby clothing/toy/carriage business is multi-kabillion dollar"

I see your perspective and I understand how that feels. but, One wonders if the industry is any different than the "obsession" for shoes, clothes, fancy kitchen gadgets, pets, pet clothing, etc. Some has practical purpose, others are just frivilous consumerism. so really, this is not demonstrating an obsession with baby goods but rather broader consumerism.

I don't think anyone damns a woman to a role as mother. That is just reality. men cant be mothers and give birth. women can. that is a role they play that men don't play. ..as to "only" roles as mothers, this is false based on evidence. Did i read here or somewhere else that near half of women making over 100k don't have kids. so, the reality is many women doing well in the word choose not to be moms. It is that simple. People fortunately can choose their path in this country and many others. Others may disagree but tough shit. people do what they want. Seriously, if you let others opinions place limmits on what you do or find the right choice, that is sad.

I work in the field of mental health, and I see the often debilitating effects of depression in my office on a daily basis. Contrary to popular belief, the joy of motherhood does not necessarily override a person's predisposition to a mental health issue. Numerous stressors can exacerbate the already existing condition. For example, pregnancy is most often one of the most dangerous times of a woman's life if she is involved in a violent relationship.
If I choose to have a little person take up space in my womb until birth, I'm going to protect her/him. If that means starting or continuing an anti-depressant, so be it. I have seen the effects of clients going off their anti-depressant upon pregnancy...and I'm not a doctor, but I don't think the road to healthy children includes not eating or not sleeping or not keeping up with doctor's appointments.
The misconception here is that depression is merely a state of mind that one can just decide to overcome. I wish it were that easy.

JJ, before you start smarting off again about what every pregnant woman should do, I will have you know that I had a friend whose doctor told her to cut waaay back on the cigarettes but not quit--the stress of trying to quit an addiction while pregnant is apparently harder on the fetus.