COVID Vaccination in Pregnant and Lactating Mothers, Transfer of Antibodies to the Baby
While the risk of severe COVID in pregnant women is relatively low, pregnant women with severe COVID experience worse outcomes. Some of our perinatal patients can’t wait to get a COVID-19 vaccine, some of our patients are understandably wary about testing a new vaccine, as there has not been extensive testing of these new vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding women. A lot of women simply can’t figure out what is the [...]
Essential Reads: Should Lithium Dose Be Reduced Prior to Delivery?
The dosing of lithium presents certain challenges during pregnancy. During pregnancy, there is a physiologic increase in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which is a measure of how quickly the kidney clears renally excreted compounds, including lithium. Thus, lithium blood levels tend to fall gradually during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy and start to increase toward pre-pregnancy levels during the third trimester (Wesseloo et al, 2017). How clinicians manage [...]
New Research from the CWMH: No Increase in Major Malformations in Children Prenatally Exposed to Aripiprazole
Despite the increasing use of the newer atypical or second-generation antipsychotic agents to treat a spectrum of psychiatric disorders, including psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, major depression, PTSD and other anxiety disorders, we have relatively little data on the reproductive safety of these newer atypical agents. In response to this deficit, the National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics was created to evaluate the safety of atypical antipsychotic medications taken by women during [...]
Weekly Roundup for MARCH 26, 2021: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health
Every week we review the most recent publications in women’s mental health, covering topics related to premenstrual symptoms, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, use of medications in pregnant and breastfeeding women, perinatal substance use, and menopausal mental health. For more detailed descriptions of many of these topics, you can sign up to receive our weekly CWMH NEWSLETTER which comes out every Thursday.  And don't forget to visit ESSENTIAL READS [...]
Reproductive safety of treatments for women with bipolar disorder
Dr. Lee S. Cohen, Director of the Ammon-Pinizzotto Center for Women's Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, recently shared his insights on the reproductive safety of medication for bipolar disorder with Ob.Gyn News on March 25th, 2021. Since March 2020, my colleagues and I have conducted Virtual Rounds at the Center for Women’s Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. It has been an opportunity to review the basic tenets of care for [...]
Essential Reads: Innovative Methods for Addressing Substance Abuse During Pregnancy
While the use of alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy is falling, the use of cannabis and opioids is increasing. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommends universal screening for substance use to be carried out at the first prenatal visit with a validated screening tool; however, there are some challenges and barriers to implementing universal screening and providing treatment in this population.  In this excellent slide presentation from Dr. [...]