Essential Reads: Topiramate and Pregnancy (2021)
Multiple studies have associated first trimester exposure to topiramate with increased risk of oral clefts.
Exploring Some Complicated Issues: Body Image, Disordered Eating, and Weight in the Perinatal Period
Research has also identified an increased risk of disordered eating symptoms in the perinatal period even among women without an eating disorder diagnosis, yet gaps exist in our knowledge pertaining to the association between psychosocial risk factors and disordered eating in this population.
Depression During Pregnancy Affect Infant’s Brain Anatomy, But No Change with Prenatal Exposure to SSRIs
Infants exposed to maternal depression during pregnancy had significantly larger subcortical grey matter volumes and smaller midbrain volumes.
Essential Reads: Measuring the Impact of Antenatal Depression on the Fetal Brain Using Neuroimaging
Neuroimaging studies indicate that exposure to antenatal depression may determine risk for later neuropsychiatric illness in the child.
High Prevalence of OCD in Pregnant and Postpartum Women
While we have relatively limited information regarding the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OC) during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Previous studies have indicated that women may be more vulnerable to the onset of OCD during [...]
High Levels of Distress in Pregnant and Postpartum Women During the Pandemic
This international survey demonstrates that pregnant and postpartum women are more likely to report elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress than others in the general population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
COVID Vaccination in Pregnant and Lactating Mothers, Transfer of Antibodies to the Baby
While the risk of severe COVID in pregnant women is relatively low, pregnant women with severe COVID experience worse outcomes. Some of our perinatal patients can’t wait to get a COVID-19 vaccine, some of our [...]
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, [...]
New Research from the CWMH: No Increase in Major Malformations in Children Prenatally Exposed to Aripiprazole
Despite the increasing use of the newer atypical or second-generation antipsychotic agents to treat a spectrum of psychiatric disorders, including psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, major depression, PTSD and other anxiety disorders, we have relatively little [...]