How does withdrawal syndrome from serotonergic drugs affect the fetus?
It is very difficult to ascertain whether there is any withdrawal syndrome in utero. Some have suggested that we may be better off discontinuing medications in pregnant mothers until after delivery because at that point we have ready access to the baby and can take care of any withdrawal syndrome. That approach is not dissimilar to recommendations people have made for mothers who are addicted to opiates. Addiction experts will sometimes recommend that mothers who are addicted to opiates not try to discontinue opiate use during the first trimester because of the risk of fetal loss or during the third trimester because of the possible risk of preterm delivery. It has been recommended that the best time to either discontinue opiate use or switch over to another compound might be the second trimester. There has been some translation of that thinking toward the SRIs as well.
