The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is the screening instrument most commonly used to identify women with postpartum mood disorders. Â This is a 10-item questionnaire which has been validated in many different populations and is [...]
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 [...]
Biomarkers (or biological markers) are used in many fields of medicine to provide objective information on normal or pathological biological processes and to predict response to therapeutic interventions. Â Researchers have long searched for biomarkers which [...]
Women are at significant risk for severe psychiatric illness after childbirth, particularly during the first three months. Â Suicide is a rare but tragic outcome of untreated psychiatric illness in this setting. Â In order to prevent [...]
For decades, researchers have postulated a connection between breastfeeding and postpartum depression (PPD). Many have suggested that breastfeeding may protect against postpartum depression and have suggested that the cessation of breastfeeding may be a trigger [...]
Previous studies have identified immigrant women as being at increased risk for postpartum depression. Â While we have considerable data on the prevalence and predictors of postpartum depression (PPD), most of these data do not specifically [...]
It has been hypothesized that both premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and postpartum depression (PPD) occur as the result of rapid shifts in the levels of ovarian hormones. Data regarding the prevalence of PPD among women [...]
While suicide is not a common event among women with postpartum depression, suicide is one of the leading causes of death in postpartum women. Â Thus, being able to reliably identify risk factors for suicide is [...]
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 [...]
We often see women with postpartum depression (PPD) who are also experiencing problems with breastfeeding.  Several different questions arise. Are these women depressed because they are having problems with breastfeeding? Or does their depression and/or [...]
