Recent Posts

This week there are several articles looking at the impact of various factors on the quality of mother-infant bonding.  The largest study from Tichelman and colleagues indicates that, out of 123 factors studied, three of those factors consistently have a significant impact on mother-infant bonding.  First, the length of gestation at the time of assessment is positively correlated with bonding. In other words, bonding strengthens as the pregnancy progresses. Second, the quality of bonding during...

We are now open for those who would like to register for our online course in Women’s Mental Health.  This course will focus on the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders in women across the reproductive lifespan. In addition to videotaped seminars, course participants will also be able to engage with the faculty in question and answer and case-based discussion sessions. Readings to accompany course materials will also be provided. You can learn more about...

Publish date: September 10, 2019 By Lee S. Cohen, MD The last decade has brought increasing awareness of the need to effectively screen for postpartum depression, with a majority of states across the country now having some sort of formal program by which women are screened for mood disorder during the postnatal period, typically with scales such as the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).In addition to effective screening is a pressing need for effective referral networks of...

Women who have a shorter interpregnancy interval, typically defined as less 12 months, experience higher rates of pregnancy complications. In addition there is accumulating dated to suggest that there are higher risks of neurodevelopmental problems, including autism, in children born after a short interpregnancy interval. A recent article suggests that rapid repeat pregnancy, defined as a pregnancy occurring less than 12 months after childbirth may be more common among women with schizophrenia. The study included...

A meta-analysis of 24 studies, including 99,614 women, demonstrated higher levels of depression among women with endometriosis compared to unaffected controls.  When researchers restricted the analysis to healthy controls, the association between endometriosis and depression was even stronger. Pain seemed to be the primary driver of  the association between endometriosis and depression; in fact, rates of depression were similar between women with pelvic pain and endometriosis and women with pelvic pain but no endometriosis. Without...

Over the last few years, we have  seen an increasing number of women with substance use disorders in our clinic.  We are very excited that Dr. Edwin Raffi from the Center for Women's Mental Health will speaking about treating this vulnerable population at our upcoming one day course in Women’s Mental Health in Boston on Thursday, October 17th. The treatment of this group of women is particularly challenging in that there are high rates of...