Q. My husband and I are contemplating getting pregnant. However, I have bipolar disorder and my doctor said that if I got off my medication I faced a 70%-100% chance of relapsing into mania again. How can I safely have a child and remain stable?

  A. Most folks are using atypical neuroleptics during pregnancy. These include Zyprexa, Risperdal, Seroquel, and probably Geodon. The Geodon may be best, but it has been out too short a period of time to know much about safety in pregnancy. All of the other agents tend to keep manias away as well as conventional agents like lithium, Depakote, etc.