The Importance of Pre-Conception Counseling

A study highlighting the negative effects of a mother’s antidepressant drugs on her fetus shows the importance of pre-conception counseling and immediately addressing what medications are safe for children.

A recent Journal of American Medical Association study showed that women who take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during the last three months of pregnancy have an increased risk of having a child with pulmonary hypertension. The risk was smaller than previously determined. Pulmonary hypertension can cause right heart failure.

“If possible, women should have a pre-conception counseling visit with their ob/gyn within six months to a year of when they would like to conceive to discuss things such as medications that the woman is taking and their potential impact on the child,” saidRobert Scanlon, MD, director of women’s health at Huntington Hospital. “If, for whatever reason, pre-conception counseling doesn’t happen, women should discuss their medications with their obstetrician at their first meeting. If it is determined the medications women are on have risk to the child, then suitable alternative medications could be explored.”

During pre-conception counseling, areas such as nutrition, exercise, weight management and taking a folic acid supplement are discussed, Dr. Scanlon said.