The other side of the risk equation: exploring risks of untreated depression and anxiety in pregnancy.

摘要

1 here has been a good deal of media attention to the use of psychiatric medications in pregnancy. The focus has been primarily on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), our mainstay of treatment for anxiety and depression. The popular press tends to focus on the potential harm to a child exposed to medications in utero; and as prescribing physicians, we may be guilty of the same bias. We are well trained in the practice of articulating the risks and benefits of medication interventions. We appreciate the professional, legal, and ethical obligations of articulating the risks and benefits of the medications we recommend, but such explication of treatment is not sufficient. In order to establish true informed consent, we must educate our patients on the equally meaningful and potentially long-term risks of their untreated mental illness in pregnancy.