A health watchdog has said that GPs and midwives need to do more to spot the signs of depression in pregnant women and new mothers. The National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has also said that women with anxiety or eating disorders also to be identified.

The guidance was welcomed by mental health experts as one in seven women experience a mental health disorder at some point in pregnancy or after the birth. Currently only around 30% are being diagnosed with mental health issues during or after pregnancy. The mental health problems that pregnant women and new women are at risk of include depression, anxiety, eating disorders and severe mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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Depression is common among women of reproductive age and an estimated 8% – 20% of women get depressed at some point in their lives.  Though it may sound benign, depression is not a mild problem and can have severe consequences such as suicide attempts.  Thus, whether or not to take these medications is a serious matter when weighing the risk of untreated depression to the mother, versus the risk to the fetus from taking an antidepressant drug.

Fortunately, now women who require anti-depressants and are looking to get pregnant have a reason to feel much relieved: a recent study on children born to mothers who had been taking tricyclic antidepressants or fluoxetine has cleared up the mixed messages about taking antidepressants during pregnancy and shown that tricyclics and Prozac are reasonably safe options for both mother and fetus.

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Depression has been proved to be more common with the women. For whatever reason women have always been the victims of depression. A woman has to go through a number of important physical and mental changes. She also has to tackle the gender stereotypes that can be really pinching. She has the additional responsibilities of her home along with her career. All these factors tend to be a burden on her shoulders and they make themselves apparent sometimes in the form of depression. The past of a person also comes back to haunt in the form of depression. A woman often gets into depression because of a haunting or troublesome past.

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did you have and how did you get over it?

Being pregnant can be a wonderful time in your life, but it can also be a cause for concern and worry if you’re a woman taking antidepressants. Women are constantly counselled to avoid medication during pregnancy, but stopping antidepressant medication can be very dangerous to do. Not only that, the effects of antidepressants on an unborn foetus haven’t been fully studied and while researchers offer caution, they don’t have firm answers on medication for depression and pregnancy.

Suddenly halting antidepressant use can have a serious effect on a person. Plunging into profound depression is a high risk of stopping medication abruptly, and anyone taking antidepressants is constantly warned not to put aside their pills without first consulting a doctor and following a careful plan to wean off the medication.

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Hello,

I am in need of help. I am pregnant in my 2nd Trimester and have felt considerable depression during my pregnancy. Symptoms include: Lethargic, unable to get out of bed, no desire to socialize or participate in family activities, loss of desire to complete daily tasks. I have two other children ages 7 and 2yrs old and my depression is becoming burdensome and a distracting me from caring for my other children. I am experiencing intense sadness and loss of interest in daily endeavors. These symptoms are very different than normal pregnancy hormone related symptoms as they are more intense and dark in nature. I have discussed with my doctor but I do not want to take prescription medications and would like to consider all natural antidepressants.I have heard that Sam-E is supposedly good, however I want to make sure that any natural antidepressants I may take will not have harmful side effects on the baby while I am pregnant.

Question:
Are there any SAFE all natural Antidepressant remedies available to take during pregnancy?

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Depression hits a lot of us at some time in our lives and it is such a relief to know that treatment or even prevention is within our reach through massage therapy, easily accessible even by just walking to a massage facility at 4th Street, Downtown St. Petersburg, right here in 33607.

The National Institute of Mental Health has reported that more than 20 million Americans over the age of 18 suffer from clinical depression each year. And that’s just clinical depression, which is different from what we laymen refer to routinely as being depressed.

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I am 6 1/2 months pregnant and have an 11 month old at home and I am going through postpardum depression and dealing with the hormones of pregnancy at the same time. The doctor gave me Prozac and told me it was safe but the pharmacist told me it was not safe. Has anyone heard of negative effects on unborn baby from Prozac and does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this another way?

1 Introduction
Multiple pregnancy poses particular problems for women, their infants, and for their caregivers. Women are likely to experience the common, unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy, such as heartburn, backache, hemorrhoids, difficulty walking, and tiredness to a greater degree than women with a singleton pregnancy. They are more likely to suffer from anemia, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, preterm labor, and operative delivery. The increased risks to the babies include congenital malformations, monochorionicity (both babies sharing one placenta), poor fetal growth, preterm birth, and perinatal death. For the survivors, in the long term there is a greater risk of cerebral palsy.

2 Prenatal care
A wide range of options for regular antenatal attendance are practised, ranging from modified shared care between obstetrician and general practitioner to weekly visits from the 20th week of gestation onwards. There is no evidence to suggest that one pattern of prenatal care is better than another, because this important research question has never been properly addressed. Regular prenatal visits permit screening for hypertension and pre-eclampsia by careful determination of blood pressure, and, if elevated, checking for proteinuria. Care for women with a multiple pregnancy who develop hypertension may be particularly important, and should follow current treatment recommendations.

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People with depression are simply not able to carry on their lives normally. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. When these symptoms become very intense, they start interfering with one’s ability to normally carry out even the daily chores. The person feels unable to do anything about it; other people need to help him out of this depressive situation. Appropriate treatment is required to help most people who suffer from depression.

Symptoms:

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