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16 - Psychopharmacology and motherhood

from Part IV - Specific treatments and service needs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2009

By
Mary V. Seeman  and
Neil Seeman
Edited by
Michael Göpfert ,
Jeni Webster  and
Mary V. Seeman
Michael Göpfert
Affiliation:
Webb House Democratic Therapeutic Community, Crewe
Jeni Webster
Affiliation:
5 Boroughs Partnership, Warrington
Mary V. Seeman
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Summary

One of the most difficult decisions for women suffering from a chronic or recurrent illness is whether or not to continue taking maintenance medications during pregnancy. Women know that they should not smoke, drink alcohol or take street drugs when they are pregnant. But they are unsure about prescribed medication. The dilemma is particularly difficult for women who are unclear about their need for medication. This predicament is well captured in a Canadian study of focus group discussions among women diagnosed with schizophrenia (Chisholm, 1999). In this group of women, pregnancies were reported as largely unplanned. The question they faced at the time of the pregnancy was whether to stop antipsychotic medication or, by continuing, to harm (perhaps) their developing child. These women related mixed experience with respect to the help they received from their doctors. Some found their doctors' advice helpful; others not. More than one woman in the focus groups expressed serious regret at having opted for abortion because of the impossibility of resolving this issue. The dilemma is expressed succinctly by one of the women:

One of the biggest things I had to contend with when I thought I wanted to have a baby is you can't go off your medication just like that and this medication is potentially very, extremely damaging to a fetus.

The ideal pregnancy is one that is preplanned, with the mother-to-be taking prenatal vitamins containing folic acid a full 6 weeks prior to conception.

Keywords

breast-feedingdrugsmothernonpharmacological treatmentspregnancypsychotropic drugs
Type
Chapter
Information
Parental Psychiatric Disorder
Distressed Parents and their Families
 , pp. 241 - 248
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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References

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