Are psychotropics drugs used in pregnancy?

To assess the prevalence and characteristics of psychiatric drug use in pregnancy.

A prospective observational study was performed on a total of 1332 consecutive women admitted for delivery, during a 3 months period, in the public obstetric services of Tenerife Island (covering a population of 1 000 000 inhabitants).

Less than 4% (3.6%) of the women recognised having a psychiatric disorder, and only 2.5% were receiving psychiatric drug treatment at the moment they knew they were pregnant; of those, 68.7% introduced substantial modifications in their treatment at that moment, 47.9% did not report any change with respect to the period before pregnancy and 35.4% recognised that their mood was worse than previously. Although patients affected by a psychiatric disorder registered a higher rate of abdominal delivery, no differences in delivery or obstetric complications were found between women with and without psychiatric illness or in relation to psychiatric drug treatment.

Compared to the literature, the studied population shows a lower rate of psychiatric problems and pharmacological treatment. This might reflect underrecognition or undertreatment.