That's a great question. Thank you for asking.
As I mentioned, under Dr. Vigod's leadership, we're currently preparing the latest version of the clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of a range of mental health problems during pregnancy and the postpartum period. When we reviewed the literature carefully again, it appears that there's a relative lack of knowledge among a lot of professionals about the relative risks and benefits.
People often hear horror stories about things like this or read things online, but the vast majority of the medicines used to treat depression and anxiety have a relatively good safety record. It's not that every person who has a mental health problem should be prescribed a medication, but it's really important that those who are already taking it, as well as their health care providers, are aware of the relative benefits and risks of these treatments. It's important that people who are thinking about taking them don't just automatically turn them down because of things they're uncertain about or their health care providers are uncertain about.
We're so happy to have this opportunity to update these guidelines and disseminate this information to all the frontline care providers we work with, who are doing such excellent work with the women, mothers, pregnant persons and birthing parents.