RFK’s War on Antidepressants Will Hit Postpartum Patients Hard

“It got to the point where I was just panicked, and my whole body hurt and ached from the stress. And I just broke down,” she said. She’d taken online quizzes about postpartum depression, but found that particular shoe to be ill-fitting. Without much more to go on, she simply didn’t know what was wrong. When she went to the doctor, however, the answer she sought was at hand: She was suffering from postpartum anxiety. The doctor prescribed her Zoloft, a common SSRI. “It made all the difference,” she said. “It allowed me to enjoy motherhood and not be living in a state of panic and fear.”

Rodkin had always wanted a second child, but she didn’t want to risk the nightmare experience she’d had with her first. Fortunately, her doctor reassured her that staying on Zoloft was safe and that the benefits far outweighed the minor potential risks to the baby. “I think it has been invaluable,” she said. “My second pregnancy was so smooth, the postpartum was so smooth, the delivery was smooth. Everything was easier, and I think a huge part of that was Zoloft.” Her son is now one year old.

Postpartum depression and anxiety are common in moms, with about 20 percent of perinatal women suffering from each. There is well-documented evidence that antidepressants—specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, a newer generation of antidepressants that includes Prozac and Lexapro—are indicated and safe for use in pregnancy and postpartum for people with moderate to severe depression and anxiety.