While perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD) have a global footprint, the majority of research related to this group of illnesses has come largely from more affluent, Westernized countries. Â Similarly, the tools used to detect [...]
Researchers from the University of North Carolina's School of Medicine and the Postpartum Depression: Action Towards Causes and Treatment Consortium have just released a free iPhone app which new mothers can use to diagnose postpartum [...]
Earlier this year, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released recommendations on Screening for Depression in Adults. The Task Force recommends that clinicians screen ALL ADULTS for depression and notes that the evidence indicates [...]
The following post was first published in OB/GYN News. Please see our OB/GYN News archives here. It was almost a year ago that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists came out unequivocally in favor of universal [...]
Having a newborn child in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is understandably stressful. Previous studies have demonstrated that mothers in this setting are at increased risk for postpartum depression (PPD). Â In addition, a recent [...]
 The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is the instrument most commonly used to identify depression in postpartum women.  Traditionally, a cut-off score of 13 is used to distinguish depressed from nondepressed women.  Because depression [...]
You get pregnant. Â You have a baby. Â You want to do whatever you can to care for your baby should anything happen to you. Â So you apply for life insurance. Â All of this makes total [...]
![By Vera Kratochvil [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://womensmentalhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Mother_Kissing_Baby-320x202.jpg)
Yesterday the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a final recommendation statement on Screening for Depression in Adults. The Task Force recommends that clinicians screen ALL ADULTS for depression and notes that the evidence [...]
About 15% of women suffer from postpartum depression (PPD). It appears, however, that women with PPD constitute a heterogeneous population. Â One difference that we observe clinically is that a subgroup of women with PPD experience [...]
About ten years ago, we ran a collaborative project with our obstetrics department here at MGH where we screened all new mothers for postpartum depression. Â The screening went well. Â Nearly all the women completed the [...]
