Can social anxiety medications affect an unborn or breast-feeding child?
The use of medications during pregnancy and breast-feeding is a complicated issue. It is known that these medicines cross from the mother’s blood to the fetus (unborn baby), so it is important to discuss possible risks with your doctor to determine whether the particular medication you are taking should be lowered in dose or temporarily discontinued. In general, the most commonly used medications for social anxiety disorder, the SSRIs, have a good safety record when taken during pregnancy, though their benefit in treating a mother’s social anxiety disorder should be weighed against the small risk of negative effects for the baby. There is some suggestion that SSRI use during pregnancy may be associated with slightly lower birth rates and an increased risk of premature births. Also, one SSRI, paroxetine (Paxil, Paxil CR and Pexeva), was recently identified as causing heart defects in some babies and it is now in FDA pregnancy category D, while all other antidepressants remain in categor
