Essential Reads: What is the Best Antidepressant to Use During Pregnancy?
The reality is that most of the antidepressants taken by women today are relatively safe and carry a very low risk to the developing fetus.
Essential Reads: Breastfeeding and ADHD Medications
Many women taking stimulants question whether it is safe to take these medications while breastfeeding.
Essential Reads: Cannabis and Breastfeeding
A significant number of women consume cannabis while breastfeeding. What do we know about the effects of cannabis on the nursing infant?
Essential Reads: Strategies for the Prevention of Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression (PPD) is a relatively common problem, affecting between 10% and 15% of women after delivery. Although it is difficult to reliably predict which women in the general population will experience postpartum depression, it [...]
Essential Reads: ADHD in Girls and Women
In childhood, ADHD is clearly more common in boys than in girls; however, in adult samples, the sex differences in prevalence are mush smaller. There is also increasing recognition that girls and women may present [...]
Essential Reads: Bupropion (Wellbutrin) and Risk for Major Malformations
Bupropion is commonly used to treat depression, and is also prescribed to support smoking cessation. Early data on bupropion-exposure during pregnancy raised concern for a possible increase in risk of malformations of the heart and large blood vessels in bupropion-exposed infants. Subsequent data from bupropion pregnancy registries has been reassuring, however, and do not demonstrate an overall increase in risk of cardiac defects following first trimester bupropion exposure. Although the overall risk of cardiac defects was not increased, the distribution of specific defects in these registries was unexpected in some ways. For example, the GlaxoSmithKline Bupropion Pregnancy Registry included two cases of coarctation of the aorta out of the 675 bupropion-exposed infants, compared to the rate of 6 cases per 10,000 births in the general population.
Essential Reads: Atypical Antipsychotics and Breastfeeding
Despite the increasing use of the newer “atypical” or second-generation antipsychotic agents to treat a spectrum of psychiatric disorders, we have relatively little data on the use of these newer atypical agents in breastfeeding women.
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, [...]
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 [...]
Essential Reads: Can Group Prenatal Care Support Maternal Mental Health?
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way antenatal care is being delivered in the United States, such as having fewer visits and replacing some in-clinic visits with virtual visits over telemedicine platforms. There has been [...]