This week, Treating Depression while pregnant. That's today on Bod Beat.
Depression can be debilitating and dangerous but for women who are pregnant, doctors have more recommended avoiding antidepressants but having given them too many other good choices. This leads one in four, who explains symptoms of depression while pregnant with very few options. And the dangers are great and the results are frightening.
Infants born to women with depression have increased risk for irritability, less activity, less alertness, fewer facial expressions compared to those born to mothers without depression. Depression and its symptoms are also associated with fetal growth changes and premature births and while available research still leaves some questions unanswered, some studies have linked fetal malformations, cardiac defects and pulmonary defects to depression.
The result at least count roughly 13% of pregnant women in the U.S. took antidepressant medications at some point during their pregnancy. Often with a little or no information to guide them, weighing the risk of the drugs versus the misery and dangers of not treating the depression.
Popular antidepressants can be dangerous for developing babies. Zoloft and Prozac reportedly increased pulmonary hypertension in fetuses, that's abnormally high blood-pressure in the arteries of the lungs of the baby. In a bid to help, two of he nation's leading physicians group just issues the first guidelines for treatment of depression in pregnancy, unbelievable. The American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say, for women with serious recurring depression, the dangers of undertreatment may well outweigh the risks, that antidepressants may pause to a developing fetus.
Now they are not saying that all women suffering from depression should take antidepressants. If the symptoms aren't serious, the group still recommends against drugs, saying the Talk Therapy alone maybe the best option and should be routinely offered. Women with serious depression can fall into poor nutrition, drinking too much alcohol, smoking and suicidal behavior, which can then cause premature birth, low birth weighed, develop mental problems down the road.
A woman who is depressed often does not have the strength or the desire to take care of herself or her developing baby. Here is the problem. Depression is often not diagnose properly. Pregnant women have hormonal imbalances naturally.
On my blog at bodbeat.com, there is a list of symptoms that you should look at. If you are suffering from any of these symptoms for two weeks or more, you maybe suffering from antepartum depression, and you should seek help. Talk with your healthcare provider about your symptoms and about your struggles. They can guide you to support groups, to private psychotherapy or even prescribe medications like SSRIs and like therapy.
There are also things that you can do on your own. One, you should take it easy. You don't have to set up the home nursery and keep the house immaculate while you are pregnant. Two, bond with your partner, nurture your relationship, take a vacation if you have to. Three, talk it out. Take out your fears and your worries about the future with your partner and how your family is going to change. And four, manage your stress. Don't let frustration build in your life, get plenty of sleep, get some exercise, eat well.
There are natural approaches to depression, nobody tells you about them but they're available. L-tryptophan, 5-HTP is an effective amino acid. It's a protein that can help increase the amount of happy hormone, Serotonin, produced in your body. It can also increase Melatonin which helps you sleep, it can also increase Niacin which improves circulation.
So imagine eating an entire turkey every day, that's where our tryptophan comes from. Things like L-tyrosine and amino acid, also a protein, which can increase production of happy hormones in your system. The supplement SAMe is a synthetic form of a compound, form naturally in the body. There have been a number of promising studies on the use of SAMe for depression. Do you think anybody tells you about this? The thinking is that SAMe increases the availability of neurotransmitters like Serotonin and Dopamine.
Finally, Omega-3 fatty acids in some fish maybe a brain food that helps ward of depression because it increases the grain matter in the area that tends to be smaller in people who have serious depression. Most important thing, don't ignore it. Depression can be awe-consuming. If you don't want to talk to your healthcare provider, talk to your partner, talk to your friend, talk to somebody about it, don't let it get worse. You awe it to yourself and you awe it to your baby.
Go to bodbeat.com for links to the extensive research and recommendations that have been published for pregnant women suffering from depression. Until then, I am Dr. Loretta, this is Bod Beat and I will see you next week.
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