effexor and pregnancy will it hurt my baby?

I am currenly on Effexor myself and 29 weeks pregnant. My pregnacy is going awsome and everything is looking good so far. My dr says it is fine to be on it. so does my phyciatrist. They both now many cases that girls have been on it and have healthy happy babies. Don't stress your self out about it it's fine.

I took effexor xr 150mg while pregnant with my little girl who is now 14months old. She was born with a whole in her heart and an irregular heart beat. She is doing fine now but I have to tell you that it was scary for a little while.

My wife weened down to 37 mgs effexor and we are currently in the hospital with a baby in respiratory distress, possibly being blamed on the effexor. We are going for a ct scan shortly to find out if there is anything else wrong... she was told the entire time to stay on the drug as the results of coming off of it are worse... i dont know, this is just our story.

Get off the Effexor ASAP. Google "babies born on effexor". I wish I would have. My OB told me that everything was fine. Now 3 diff dr's have told me they are in disbelief my OB left me on it. Apparantly taking Effexor past the 2nd trimester is extremely dangerous to the baby. Babies born on Effexor are at high risk of heart problems, seizure, lung problems, etc. It's not good. I am 32 weeks and have been taking 300mg daily without knowing the damage I could be doing to my son. My new dr is trying to wean me off the Effexor as quickly and safely as she can.

Good luck to you all

I took effexor xr 150mg a day with both of my pregnancies. Both of them I was told it would be fine to take it. My first son was born at 28 weeks. We almost lost him many times. He had breathing problems. He only weighed 2lbs 15oz. They almost lost me too. My second pregnancy I was so busy with my 4 year old, who is fine now, that I would often forget to take my effexor until the withdrawls would hit. Thank god I forgot a lot...my baby was born at 34 weeks. He had jaundice and would not eat for a few weeks. He is now 7 months old and both of my boys are doing good. I am livid at the doctors for not telling me that it was bad. I just recently found out about the problems due to effexor. You can search stories of "effexor babies" on youtube. That really gave me an insight to it. It had caused birth defects, stillbirth, miscarriages, etc. I heard you should get on zoloft. But I also heard other bad things about that and it's really hard to tell unless you get multiple opinions from doctors. I know that the next time I have a baby I WILL NOT be taking effexor. I am looking into a lawsuit against effexor.

Hi, I am a 43 yr old mum, with three beautiful kids, my two daughters, I was on 300mg of efexor per day, and 150mg of seroquel per day, and both my daughters were born 36 and 38 weeks. Nothing was wrong with both my babies, they were born perfectly healthy and my daughters are today 6 years old and one at 9 years old. And if anything, the eldest is the brightest of both.
I was worried at the time, but, with the right Dr, was able to overcome my anxieties.

I hope this was helpful to you. :-)

Hi. I have just been reading about babies affected by their mothers taking effexor during pregnancy. I took 150mg every other day throughout my pregnancy and had no problems at all. Thank god, she was fine after biryth and at 3 and a half years old is still perfectly healthy. I did look into taking this drug when i fell pregnant. The one site I came accross said that research had shown that over a large group of women the difference in abnormalities was no different from one group to another ie the group that was taking effexor and the group that wasnt. Along with reading this and reassurances from my GP I gave the matter no further thought - until today. How does any Dr know that the abnormalities are caused by this drug? I cannot find anything that suggests that babies born from mothers taking effexor during pregnancy are born with a certain type of problem.

I do not work in the medical field but I do feel that an awful lot of pressure is put on women who are pregnant. Dont take this, dont do that, dont eat this. It appears to me that alot of the information is woolly without clear answers and we are told to abstain from everything because people are covering their backs. Apart from alochohol syndrome but again there are no answers as to how much is safe so they say drink nothing. I have 3 healthy children. I smoked a few cigarettes during all pregnancies. I drank a few shandies through all my pregnancies. I took over the counter pain killers when I needed them. I am not saying I did the right thing but I firmly believe that there is no one answer. We are different and probably all react differently to medication, no one placenta is the same. I think there is so much pressure on us at this time and although I did smoke occasionally the worst side affect was guilt. I think that we have to just know that we are doing our best! But, hey what do I know! xxx

Hi,

I was on effexor for the longest time and even during pregnancy. My doctors said that I had to continue and that there would be no problems with the pregnancy.

My baby girl who is now 6 years old was born at 34 weeks, at 4lbs. Yes pregnancy is scary in general and I did suffer severe post pardum afterwards but I never got off the effexor.

Both you and your baby will be fine, just keep taking your effexor................best if luck!!!!

Hi,

It's not safe. Don't let them fool you. I took 150mg while pregnant and after. My daughter almost died while I was giving birth. No heart beat for about 5 minutes. When she was born she was a zombie. She just laid there, not crying. She would not feed. She was severely jittery and a very fussy baby. Under doctor recommendation I breast fed for three weeks, then realized I was drugging my baby. Today at 6 years old she is normal but a very "spirited" child. Lots of mood swings, and a sickly child. Low immune system, dark circles under her eyes. Oh and she also had night terrors for the first three years of her life. They would last up to 2 hours at a time. I DO NOT RECOMMEND HAVING A BABY ON ANTIDEPRESSANTS. Please consider the long term effects that are only slowly being exposed by time. I only had my doctor's advice to go by as much info wasn't out yet, but what I hear now makes me cringe, and I only hope my daughter leads a normal life. Good luck, take care.

I was on Effexor XR until I entered my 3rd trimester. I then weened off (with the most horrible withdrawals). My little girl was born and she was tiny, she fit in preemie clothes. She's now 18m old and is still wearing size 9-12m clothes. She has developmental issues. Her motor skills are very far behind. She just this past week learned how to walk. Looking at possible Autism. Please be careful if you take this medication. It's not worth the possible risk to your child.

I was on effexor xr ranging in doses of 75mg and 150 mg for over ten years. During the course of those ten years I got pregnant three times. All of which resulted in miscarriages within the first five weeks. While trying to conceive I did more research--asked beyond my GP and my psychiatrist, and looked online at forums such as these as well as interviewed multiple OB/GYNs and other MDs. I decided to get off the Effexor XR, and other medications for my condition (I suffer from fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, insomnia). I am now successfully 11 weeks pregnant, just three months after being totally off the medications. I have definitely struggled with the chronic pain, and the other issues that effexor helped me with. But I have a healthy baby, with no complications. I know in my heart Effexor is the reason for those miscarriages.  There are ways to cope with your conditions that are safer and successful without using this drug. Cognitive Behavorial Therapy, Biofeedback, Diet, Exercise--all of these have helped me cope with my pain. Every doctor is required to tell you: "If the benefits outweigh the risk, then this drug tests safe-ish to take during pregnancy." Please consider alternative methods or medications to take over the Effexor. These drugs are so new, we have yet to truly explore the effects they are causing on our future generations. Double check, triple check every resource and ask multiple doctors for their opinion. If you can suck it up, and get on for those  9 months without this medication in your system, then try it. If i can I do it, I know you can. Of course discuss this with your doctor, wean off properly and have a plan on how to cope afterward. But consider other methods.  I will never get back on that terrible drug again. The withdrawals alone are Hell to ever consider going through it again. Seek other methods. I wish you all the happiness and the health for yourselves and your children. I know how very difficult this process is. You can do it.

I realize that the original post is from over a year ago, but for anyone that may come across this site, I just wanted to share that I was on Effexor XR throughout my entire pregnancy and my son was born at 38 weeks without any complications. His apgar scores were 9 and 9. He is now five years old and extremely healthy.

Also realize it is over a year... 

I was on Effexor during pregnancy (10 years ago) - My son was born right at his due date.... had a low apgar score had to be respirated, and was rushed to a stay in the NICU  (largest kid in there....) - wouldn't eat for a couple of days (was on an iv), and it wasn't fun.  Was it because of the Effexor? - no idea - but no one knew then why....   He is a wonderful boy.  He has a couple of learning disabilities though.  Effexor? don't know.....