Are there any women on here who have carried a healthy baby to term while taking Lamictal, Prozac, Klonopin or all three?

I carried a healthy baby to term while on Lexapro. I know it’s not one of your meds but it’s in the same area.

I took Prozac during my pregnancy with both daughters. Both were 100% healthy.

I am childless, but I currently take Lamictal. My neurologist told me when I was trying to get pregnant that taking the supplement Folic Acid could
virtually eliminate the dangers posed by Lamictal and drugs
like it. He told me that it was
not foolproof, but the chances
were reduced to close to
normal levels. I know that what you were asking was for actual examples, but he was talking from experience and my
Gynecologist concurred.

My cousin decided to go off her meds when she had her baby. She was taking lamictal and some other ones. You know the risks, I’m sure. It worked out for her. I don’t know how hard it was.

Do you feel you won’t be able to hold it together for the year or so required to have a baby and breast feed for a little while? I suppose it could be longer if you have difficulty conceiving.

For some people, it’s the fact of a child that is a miracle, no matter what kinds of challenges it faces, or they face together. So if you take the low risk of problems into account together with the belief (if you have it) that any child is a child you will cherish and love, then it seems to me that could make the decision to stay on meds easier. If it’s the other way around, and you don’t feel you could handle a baby with a cleft palate or something… that’s another choice, of course. Although, even without meds, there are always chances of birth defects.

Anyway, if I were in your position, I’d be looking at how much I wanted to bring a child into life, no matter what it was like. If I wanted it enough, then the risk of birth defects wouldn’t matter. If I only wanted a healthy baby, then I’d seriously consider figuring out how to be off meds for long enough to bring this child into the world.

I make no moral judgments about this. I had fertility problems that meant that by the time my wife got pregnant, she was in the high risk category (age wise) for a number of conditions. I really wanted a healthy child, but I carry one of the CF genes. Turns out, I also carry the bipolar genes (we didn’t know that then). But I wanted to be a father very badly, and so those risks were worth it, to me. I never thought about what would happen if the child wasn’t healthy. Fortunately, we got lucky.

But there’s no certainty about a baby’s health no matter what the situation of the mother or father. My feeling is that if you want a child badly enough, you go for it—medicated or not. Risks to both. If you’re going to be in and out of the hospital if you go off meds, that can’t be good for a baby. Perhaps meds are the way to go.

@wundayatta brought up a very good point. As a bipolar individual with epilepsy, if I was to be able to bring a child into the world, my doctors have all told me that I needed to stay on my medicines. Their consensus was that for me to come off of my medications would have disastrous effects for both me and a child. In my case the best route would be to take supplements and to be closely monitored by my doctors.

Thanks everyone for your candid and insightful responses.