Can I Take Medications for OCD if I Am Pregnant?

Question: Can I Take Medications for OCD if I Am Pregnant?

Answer:

Most mental healthcare providers will ask a female patient about “childbearing potential” before starting her on medication. The provider is not trying to be intrusive, just trying to assess the likelihood of a pregnancy.

Ideally, the woman and her healthcare provider can work together and plan ahead. For example, a woman with severe OCD may need to take medication that is potentially unsafe in pregnancy. She therefore needs to use birth control while taking the medication. Later on, when her symptoms have improved, she is able to minimize her meds or maybe even discontinue them before trying to conceive.

The above scenario does not always play out, however. Sometimes a woman’s symptoms do not improve sufficiently to stop taking medication. And certainly, unplanned pregnancies occur. What then?

Medications vary in how risky they are, or are not, to a fetus. The FDA has developed categories to label medications, ranging from A (completely safe) to X (completely unsafe). Most medications fall somewhere in between.

Most of the antidepressants, commonly used to treat OCD, fall into category C, meaning that there is inadequate information to determine whether the medication is completely safe or not. With antidepressants and other drugs, the risks and benefits must be weighed.

If a pregnant woman has severe OCD, and is unable to eat healthily, sleep or function adequately, then there are obvious risks to the baby from her illness alone. These risks probably outweigh the potential risks from an antidepressant, so her doctor may recommend that she continue, or even increase, her medication.

If a pregnant women with very mild OCD symptoms is otherwise functioning well, she and her doctor may decide to see how she does on less or no medication, in an attempt to minimize the baby’s exposure to medication.

Every woman is different, but the two most important points are:

• Talking honestly with your healthcare provider about your contraceptive practices and reproductive plans, and
• Calling your healthcare provider right away if you learn you are pregnant and are taking medication.

_{Source: US Food & Drug Administration Website}