While suicide is not a common event among women with postpartum depression, suicide is one of the leading causes of death in postpartum women. 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). 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 [...]
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. You have a baby. You want to do whatever you can to care for your baby should anything happen to you. So you apply for life insurance. All of this makes total [...]
For those of you in the Boston area, the Massachusetts PPD Commission is offering a free screening of the documentary "Dark Side of the Full Moon" at the State House Room 428 on the 4th [...]
Women with bipolar disorder are at significant risk for recurrent illness during the postpartum period. After miscarriage, an event which is associated with both hormonal changes and psychological complexity, is the risk for recurrent illness [...]
Something is happening. The issue of perinatal depression is spending a lot of time in the media spotlight these days. But rather than focusing on the risks of medications used during pregnancy (the usual headline [...]
![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 [...]
Infertility and its treatment are enormously stressful. Previous studies have shown that women undergoing infertility treatment are more vulnerable to clinically significant anxiety and depressive symptoms. But what happens when the desired outcome is achieved? [...]
