Mother's Little Helpers

When you have anxiety or depression and you become pregnant, what should you do if you’re on antidepressants? The worst thing you could do, say the experts, is to stop taking them. Here’s what you need to know about mood disorders, medication and your pregnancy, writes Kerryn Massyn

- Kerryn Massyn

DURING PREGNANCY, we’re looking after the health and wellbeing of two people – that of ourselves, and of our growing babies. So, what do we do to ensure we’re giving that baby-to-be everything it needs to grow healthy and strong? We eat healthily, we take prenatal vitamins, and we see our midwives and doctors for scans and regular checks. In short, we do everything within our power to create a healthy environment for the foetus to grow in. But this health doesn’t begin and end with our physical bodies – mental health is just as important in a pregnant woman, and especially if you have experienced anxiety, depression or another mental illness.

WHEN YOU’RE DEPRESSED AND ANXIOUS

We don’t like talking about mental health issues because they’re still covered by a dark and threatening cloud in South African society, but pretending that we aren’t affected by these issues does not make them go away. “More than 20 percent of women develop a mental health problem (when referring to depression or anxiety) during pregnancy or within the first year of their baby’s life. The whole range of psychiatric illnesses can occur in the so-called perinatal period, which covers before and after pregnancy,” say Associate Professor Simone Honikman and Dr Annamarie Schmidt. That’s one in every five pregnant women. Both Prof. Honikman and Dr Schmidt are at the University of Cape Town’s Perinatal Mental Health Project (pmhp.za.org), the former as its director, and the latter while on sabbatical from her full-time position as a consultant in perinatal psychiatry in the UK.