pregnancy - MGH Center for Women's Mental Health

Latest News From the National Pregnancy Registry

We would like to thank you for your continuing support of the National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics (NPRAA) at the Center for Women’s Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. We are grateful for all the referrals made to the Registry as our numbers continue to grow every day. Given the Registry’s successful enrollment, we are pleased to announce our plan to release preliminary data at an upcoming conference in June, the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) Annual Meeting.

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-05-09T21:28:52-04:00May 5th, 2014|Outcomes, Pregnancy & Medications, Risk of Malformations|Comments Off

Can the EPDS Be Used During Pregnancy to Predict PPD?

Various instruments have been used to detect postpartum depression (PPD). However, rather than waiting for depression to occur, can we possibly identify women during pregnancy who will go on to develop postpartum illness? If we [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-04-17T10:54:34-04:00April 28th, 2014|Diagnosis & Screening, Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders|Comments Off

Antidepressant Use Associated with Longer Duration of Breastfeeding

Data was presented at the 18th Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) Annual Conference in Perth regarding the use of antidepressants among breastfeeding women. Analyzing the data from the Danish National Birth Cohort [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2015-07-09T11:39:07-04:00April 18th, 2014|Antidepressants, Breastfeeding & Medications, Outcomes, Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders|Comments Off

Sleep Interventions During Pregnancy Reduce the Risk of Postpartum Depression

It should be no surprise that many women complain of disrupted sleep during pregnancy. According to a recent study, approximately 28%-38% of women meet criteria for sleep deficiency during early pregnancy. (Sleep deficiency is defined as short sleep duration, insufficient sleep, [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-04-14T15:13:44-04:00April 16th, 2014|Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders, Sleep Disorders, Treatment|Comments Off

A New Questionnaire for Diagnosing Perinatal Anxiety Disorders

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2015-07-16T15:18:43-04:00April 9th, 2014|Anxiety Disorders, Diagnosis & Screening, Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders During Pregnancy|Comments Off

Clinical Update 2014: Use of Methylphenidate During Pregnancy

For women with mild to moderate attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, we frequently recommend discontinuing medication and switching to a non-pharmacologic intervention. Although these women might experience some decrease in their level of functioning, they typically [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2017-12-22T14:40:20-04:00March 19th, 2014|ADHD Medications, Outcomes, Pregnancy & Medications, Risk of Malformations|Comments Off

Understanding the Link Between Maternal Diet, Depression and Child Development

While the human brain continues develop throughout the first twenty or so years of life, the most vulnerable periods of brain development occur during pregnancy and the first 2 to 3 years of the child’s [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-03-13T09:26:59-04:00March 17th, 2014|Child Outcomes, Outcomes, Psychiatric Disorders During Pregnancy|Comments Off

Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period: A Time of Vulnerability for Women with OCD

While we have now a fair amount of information regarding the course of major depression and bipolar disorder during pregnancy and the postpartum period, we have much less information on the course obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). [...]

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2014-03-07T13:56:28-04:00March 10th, 2014|Anxiety Disorders, Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders, Prevalence & Risk Factors, Psychiatric Disorders During Pregnancy|Comments Off

Good News: New Studies Show No Association Between Antidepressants and Risk of Autism

Two recent epidemiologic studies have demonstrated an association between prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants (SSRIs) with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; Croen et al 2011, Rai et al, 2013). One important imitation of these two studies is that parental psychiatric disorder in itself is associated with an increased risk of ASD in the offspring, and these studies could not distinguish between the effects of drug exposure and the consequences of the underlying maternal psychiatric illness. Two new studies shed light on the association between prenatal antidepressant exposure and risk of autism spectrum disorder in the offspring.

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2016-10-24T22:39:29-04:00February 5th, 2014|Pregnancy & Medications|Comments Off

Folic Acid Supplements Before and After Conception: Prevention of Autism

In a recent editorial in The Annals of Internal Medicine entitled “Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements,” authors make a case that multivitamins are not a good value (Dec 17, 2013 issue). This editorial was based on new research that demonstrated that there was no association between multivitamin use and rates of mortality, cognitive decline and recurrent cardiovascular events in three different studies. The assertion that multivitamins are not worth the money was widely reported in the media.

By MGH Center for Women's Mental Health|2016-05-15T20:32:46-04:00January 29th, 2014|Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Prevention, Psychiatric Disorders During Pregnancy, Risk of Malformations|Comments Off