I’m wondering if there are any UK mums on here with experience of taking medication for mental health throughout their pregnancy and what input they had from perinatal teams/how their birth went/follow ups and effects on baby etc?

I’ve been on medication for my mental health for a significant amount of years. I’ve stopped all medications myself once I found out I was pregnant- bar one medication which I just feel would be too risky for me to stop, which is Venlafaxine (antidepressant). When I stop taking it I become so physically and mentally unwell, I didn’t want to risk it and ultimately want to be as well as I can for my baby.

At my booking appt at 7w, my midwife referred me to see a perinatal consultant psychiatrist who I saw last week for the first time (at 16w). He told me about increased risks to my baby i.e. heart defects and autism, which scared me. He wants me to very slowly (over a 3 month period) come off Venlafaxine and start a new medication (he didn’t say what one- aren’t they all just as risky?). However he won’t let me do this yet until the adult mental health team see me, and see if they can monitor the process to make sure I don’t become ill again. So I’m still taking it as normal, and waiting to be seen.

I’m now 17w and by the time I’m seen, a plan is agreed and I start reducing the medication, I’ll be near full term anyway. It’s highly likely in which case, my baby will be fully susceptible to associated risks and no doubt have some sort of withdrawal and I’m scared about this. Will they keep us in hospital to monitor him? Am I restricted as to what kind of birth I can have?

I’m so anxious about all of this and feel so guilty and horrible every time I take my medication now 😢

If anyone has any experience at all with this then please help!