What You Need to Know About Cannabis and Breastfeeding
We continue to see more and more women of reproductive age using marijuana in various forms. While marijuana is viewed by some as a safe alternative for the treatment of various maladies associated with pregnancy, including morning sickness and postpartum depression, there is no data to support the use of marijuana for the management of these conditions.  We have data to indicate that the use of cannabis during pregnancy may negatively [...]
Weekly Roundup for APRIL 2, 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 [...]
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 [...]