Outcomes - MGH Center for Women's Mental Health

Pregnancy Outcomes in Women with Schizophrenia

With the advent of the newer, atypical antipsychotic medications, patients with psychotic disorders have been able to achieve greater symptom control with less disabling side effects. For women with schizophrenia, there has also been an increase in fertility rates over the last decade. Previous studies have suggested that women with schizophrenia, as compared to women with no psychiatric illness, are at increased risk for pregnancy and delivery complications, including low birthweight, intrauterine growth restriction, and preterm birth. However, most of these studies occurred at a time when the women were treated with older antipsychotic medications, and we cannot assume that these findings are relevant now, when women with schizophrenia are more commonly treated with the newer atypical antipsychotics and have much better control of their symptoms.

Impaired Maternal Infant Bonding More Common in Women with Severe Postpartum Depression

Maternal psychiatric illness can profoundly affect how a mother interacts with her child and is a risk factor for impaired mother-infant bonding, which may include a spectrum of difficulties: decreased maternal affective involvement, increased irritability, [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-09-29T10:02:37-04:00October 1st, 2014|Child Outcomes, Outcomes, Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders|Comments Off

Wellbutrin (Bupropion) Exposure and Risk of Cardiac 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.

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-09-11T09:57:22-04:00September 11th, 2014|Antidepressants, Outcomes, Pregnancy & Medications, Risk of Malformations|Comments Off

New Data on Anxiety Medications and Pregnancy

Benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics are commonly used during pregnancy. However, there data regarding the reproductive safety of these agents has been somewhat mixed. Although initial reports suggested that there may be an increased risk of cleft lip and palate, more recent reports have shown no association between exposure to benzodiazepines and risk for cleft lip or palate. A new study shows no increase in the overall risk of malformations among children exposed to benzodiazepines.

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-08-28T23:00:37-04:00August 20th, 2014|Anti-Anxiety Medications, Outcomes, Pregnancy & Medications, Risk of Malformations|Comments Off

Smoking While Pregnant: What are the Effects on the Developing Fetal Brain?

When women come to us for consultation, we focus primarily on the risks of exposure to psychotropic medications. It is important, however, to consider the impact of other, potentially harmful, exposures that are common in [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-08-13T10:51:57-04:00August 18th, 2014|Nicotine, Outcomes, Perinatal Substance Use, Pregnancy Outcomes|Comments Off

Antipsychotics and Pregnancy Part 2: Preliminary Data from the MGH Pregnancy Registry

This is the second part of a two part series on the use of antipsychotic medications during pregnancy. Read Part 1 here, which reviews data from the Australian antipsychotic registry.

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2016-03-28T13:23:55-04:00August 6th, 2014|Antipsychotic Medications, Outcomes, Pregnancy & Medications, Risk of Malformations|Comments Off

Antipsychotics and Pregnancy Part 1: Preliminary Data from the Australian Registry

This is the first part of a two part series on the use of antipsychotic medications during pregnancy. Atypical antipsychotic medications are commonly used for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Despite the increasing [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-07-28T10:45:35-04:00July 28th, 2014|Antipsychotic Medications, Outcomes, Pregnancy & Medications, Risk of Malformations|Comments Off

SSRI Antidepressants Not Associated with Cardiovascular Defects

Over the last few years, we have reported on several studies which have suggested an increased risk of certain types of cardiovascular malformations among children exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy. The [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2016-03-28T13:55:55-04:00July 9th, 2014|Antidepressants, Outcomes, Pregnancy & Medications, Risk of Malformations|Comments Off

PTSD Increases the Risk of Preterm Birth

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is relatively common among pregnant and postpartum women. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD for women is about 10%, with one-third of episodes lasting more than five years. Given the relatively high [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2016-07-21T11:09:10-04:00July 7th, 2014|Outcomes, Pregnancy Outcomes, Psychiatric Disorders During Pregnancy, PTSD and Stress Related Disorders|Comments Off

Breastfeeding and Anti-Epileptic Medications

Because breastfeeding has many psychological and medical benefits for both the mother and her child, many women would like to breastfeed. However, all medications taken by the mother are secreted into the breast milk. While various studies have addressed the short-term safety of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in nursing infants, none have systematically assessed the long-term effects of exposure to these drugs on cognitive development.

By Ruta Nonacs, MD PhD|2025-06-26T09:08:10-04:00June 24th, 2014|Anti-Epileptic Drugs, Breastfeeding & Medications, Outcomes|Comments Off