New Study at CWMH: Genetics of Postpartum Psychosis – Massachusetts General Hospital Postpartum Psychosis Project (MGHP3)
Postpartum psychosis (PPP) is a rare but serious condition, occurring in 1 to 2 per 1000 women in the weeks after delivery and associated with extreme delirium-like behavior, delusions, hallucinations, and an increased risk of suicide and infanticide.[1] While there appears to be a strong link between postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder,[2] it is estimated that about half of women who present with postpartum psychosis have no psychiatric history prior to [...]
Project TEACH and the NY State Conference on Maternal Depression
Our group will be traveling to Albany, New York this Friday, October 12th, to take part in the New York State Conference on Maternal Depression sponsored by Project TEACH. We will be joining our colleagues Dr. Margaret Spinelli from Columbia University and Dr. Lisa Weinstock from the Motherhood Project of New York in this program for healthcare providers in primary care, psychiatry, pediatrics, OB/GYN, and other treaters who care for women [...]
More Data on Marijuana and Breastfeeding
In our clinic, we are seeing more and more women of reproductive age using marijuana in various forms. According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, there has been a significant increase in the use of marijuana among women of childbearing age over the last decade. Marijuana use was the highest in women aged 18 to 25 years, with past-month prevalence reaching 7.47% in 2014. Among pregnant [...]
Weekly Roundup for OCTOBER 5, 2018: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health
Two new studies explore the efficacy of non-pharmacologic treatments for depression during pregnancy. The first uses internet-derived cognitive behavioral therapy (Loughnan et al, 2018) in a group of pregnant women with anxiety and/or depression. The second is a randomized controlled trial of transcranial magnetic stimulation or TMS (Kim et al, 2018) for the treatment of antenatal depression. Ruta Nonacs, MD PhD A randomized controlled trial of 'MUMentum Pregnancy': Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral [...]
Using the EPDS During Pregnancy: What Exactly are We Screening For?
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology now recommends that women be screened for depression during pregnancy in addition to screening during the postpartum period. Because depressive symptoms during pregnancy have been associated with worse outcomes and are a robust predictor of postpartum depression, the identification of women with depression during pregnancy would help us to identify and treat women with symptoms during pregnancy and those who are at high risk [...]
Weekly Roundup for SEPTEMBER 28, 2018: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health
This week’s offering includes an article published in Pediatrics indicating that cannabis metabolites are found in the breast milk up to 6 days after the last use. A small prospective study from Wisner and colleagues looks at pregnancy outcomes in women with bipolar disorder. Ruta Nonacs, Md PhD Marijuana Use by Breastfeeding Mothers and Cannabinoid Concentrations in Breast Milk. Bertrand KA, Hanan NJ, Honerkamp-Smith G, Best BM, Chambers CD. Pediatrics. [...]