Zoloft and Premature Labor: Understanding the Risks & Considerations

Question
Dear Lilly:
I have two questions that I would like an outside opinion of. First one, I am pregnant with my fourth child, my first pregnancy was full term (37 weeks) my second was born at 35 weeks and my last pregnancy I started at 28 weeks but managed with Meds and a lot of hospital stays to deliver him at 35 weeks. I am concerned about the chances of having this baby early, I want more than anything to have a full term child that does not need to be in the NICU due to prematurity. Is it likely that this one will be born early, I am due about Sept 24th and am also worried about the summer heat. All my other children were born in the winter. My second question is I am currently on Zoloft (50mg) I went on Zoloft last October due to overwhelming stress and anxiety. My doctor is highly upset that I didn't go off of the medication when she asked me too at my first maternity visit, actually I did wean myself off of the medicine however the effects were horrible, from the severe dizziness, wanting to rip my skin off, it was horrible, the heart palpitations were severe, I had trouble catching my breath anyway I went back on the medicine ( i was also diagnosed with Mitro valve prolapse) I was wondering if you had any advise about the health of my child since I am on the medicine. Honestly, If i had known that I was going to get pregnant I would have went off of the medicine way before. When I asked my Gyno about the medicine and the effects she had no answers for me because there have been no good studies with pregnant women and the meds. Do you have any advise or tests I could do to make sure the baby is okay.

Thank You,
Tami

Answer
Hi Tammy,
it is really not known about whether the baby is ok, but we do leave our patients on their antidepressants during the pregnancy to avoid other problems. I would make sure the ob looks carefully at every ultrasound for any problems. As far as the prematurity, that is something not known either because each pregnancy is different. The only other tests that can be done is the amniocentesis.