Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

Effexor and Pregnancy is a No-no for sure. The reasons being, that the pharmaceutical formulation Venlafaxine, marketed under the name Effexor, or Efexor is a drug prescribed for treating a generalized anxiety disorder and other depressive disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and so on.

Though it is among the most commonly prescribed drugs, it is one that has been known to be associated with suicidal thoughts and self harm; particularly among children and adolescents.

Effexor and pregnancy are not terms that go together at all, since this drug is contra-indicated during pregnancy.

There are several situations in which the prescription is not advisable of Effexor and pregnancy is one of them since this drug has been seen to be associated with raising risk of miscarriage, premature labor and delivery and other birth defects such as a hole in the heart and or respiratory and other distress after birth.

Studies have shown that Effexor and pregnancy are ill-advised since the drug is known to cross the placental barrier and over to the baby from the mother later in the pregnancy so in particular it is avoided after the 2^nd trimester. After this time, the risk for lung problems, heart problems, seizures for the baby etc increases significantly.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that these problems occur due the combination of Effexor and pregnancy, though controlled studies on the subject are limited. This probably owes itself to the fact that few pregnant women will willingly subject themselves to an experiment that will have the potential to harm their baby.

For every instance of a baby being born with birth defects, being born prematurely or miscarriage due to Effexor and pregnancy, there are stories of pregnancies proceeding just fine even when the mothers were taking Effexor the entire 9 months.

However this is not indication that Effexor is harmless to take during pregnancy.  After all, we also hear babies being born without any problems to smoker mothers, and that does not prove that smoking is not harmful when pregnant.

Even the least aware of pregnant women know how very bad it is to smoke or even be around smokers when pregnant. This does not mean that there is no risk associated with these dangerous activities. All that this does prove is that each woman, each pregnancy and each placenta is different and will react differently to given situation and it is the same with Effexor and pregnancy.

Though many doctors do claim that Effexor is safe to take during pregnancy, others strictly advice against it, and will try to wean the pregnant woman off it as soon as possible. The instances of birth defects having been associated with Effexor and pregnancy are many, as are the lawsuits that have been filed by aggrieved parents against the manufacturers, doctors etc. as well.

On youtube, it is possible to find numerous videos about birth defects, still births and about babies who have died soon after birth, with many of these being attributed to Effexor. There are so many heartrending stories there, that you have to take cognizance of the fact that Effexor and pregnancy do not go together and that it is a drug best avoided during pregnancy and also for as long as one is breastfeeding.