Every week we review the most recent publications in women’s mental health, covering topics related to premenstrual symptoms, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, use of medications in pregnant and breastfeeding women, perinatal substance use, and menopausal mental health.
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Happy Reading!
Ruta Nonacs, MD PhD
PMS AND PMDD
No articles this week
INFERTILITY AND MENTAL HEALTH
Fear of childbirth and psychiatric disorders decrease the likelihood of subsequent births: a retrospective register-based cohort study.
Silvan E, Saisto T, Mäkelä T, Salmela-Aro K, Gissler M, Lampio L. Reprod Health. 2025 Jan 22;22(1):6.
FOC and psychiatric disorders are associated with a low birthrate following the first delivery. Caesarean section as the mode of delivery decreases the likelihood of the second birth among women with FOC and psychiatric disorders.
PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS DURING PREGNANCY
Trajectories of anxiety and depression and association with pain in the perinatal and postpartum period.
Jessa JS, Tomfohr-Madsen L, Sedov I, Walker A, Miller SA, Davis KP, Miller JV. J Affect Disord. 2026 Mar 1;396:120830.
From mother to infant: predicting infant temperament using maternal mental health measures and tabular machine learning models.
AlSaad R, Alabdulla M, Tabassum A, Sheikh J, Thomas R. Front Public Health. 2025 Sep 18;13:1659987.
Improving perinatal mood and anxiety disorders through integrated infant mental health care in obstetrics: evidence from a program evaluation study.
Jester JM, Hoffman CM, Issa M, Riggs JL, O’Neill H, Duprey M, Rosenblum K, Erickson NL, Bengel C, Fisk C, Muzik M. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2025 Nov 26;25(1):1269.
The Integrated Infant Mental Health approach embeds a Behavioral Health Consultant (IMH-BHC) who has specialized training in Infant Mental Health into OB/GYN clinics.
Gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention: What is the role of perinatal antidepressant use?
van Wijk EJC, Zugic M, Rostami S, van Gelder MMHJ, Ahmad AS, Sitras V, Spigset O, Lupattelli A, Trinh NTH. J Affect Disord. 2026 Feb 1;394(Pt A):120521.
Pre-pregnancy discontinuers had increased risk of inadequate gestational weight gain (GWG) compared to non-users (wRR 1.34, 95% CI 1.03-1.73). Early pregnancy discontinuers (wRR 0.89, 95% CI 0.78-1.02), late pregnancy discontinuers (wRR 0.88, 95% CI 0.76-1.01), and continuers (wRR 0.86, 95% CI 0.71-1.05) had a borderline decreased risk of excessive postpartum weight retention at 6 months postpartum compared to non-users.
MEDICATIONS AND PREGNANCY
Pharmacokinetic profiles of sertraline in pregnancy as a predictor of postpartum depressive symptoms.
Illamola SM, Stowe ZN, Kalin ML, Evans MD, Sherwin CM, Costantine MM, Newport DJ, Ritchie JC, Birnbaum AK. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2025 Oct 7.
Sertraline pharmacokinetic profiles varied across individuals during pregnancy and were associated with postpartum depressive symptoms. The use of therapeutic monitoring may provide clinical insight that can be useful for identifying patients with a potential toward depressive symptoms.
Peripartum Depression Pharmacotherapies Targeting GABA-Glutamate Neurotransmission.
Courtes AC, Smitherman L, Shahani L, Soares JC, Goetzl L, Machado-Vieira R. J Clin Med. 2025 Sep 1;14(17):6177.
Brexanolone was the first neurosteroid to receive FDA approval for PPD, while zuranolone also shows promise. Ketamine and esketamine are also associated with reduced PPD risk, particularly with perioperative administration during cesarean delivery, though benefits are predominantly short-term.
POSTPARTUM PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS
What Interventions Focused on Physical Activity Could Improve Postpartum Depression Symptoms? An Overview of Systematic Reviews with Meta-Analysis.
Campos-Marin Á, García-Muñoz C, Matias-Soto J, Martinez-Calderon J. Healthcare (Basel). 2025 Jun 13;13(12):1419.
Most meta-analyses found that aerobic exercise, yoga, and multimodal exercise could be beneficial in reducing postpartum depression symptoms.
Is Postpartum Bipolar Disorder a Distinct Diagnostic Entity?
Sharma V, Wood KN, Cha B, Mazmanian D. Bipolar Disord. 2025 Jun;27(4):268-269.
Postpartum Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Risk of Depression.
Larsen SV, Ozenne B, Mikkelsen AP, Liu X, Bang Madsen K, Munk-Olsen T, Lidegaard Ø, Frokjaer VG. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Mar 3;8(3):e252474.
Hormonal contraceptive initiation was associated with subsequent depression, with an AHR of 1.49 (95% CI, 1.42-1.56) compared with no use. The AHR for combined OC was 1.72 (95% CI, 1.63-1.82); combined nonoral contraceptives, 1.97 (95% CI, 1.64-2.36); and progestogen-only nonoral contraceptives, 1.40 (95% CI, 1.25-1.56). The earlier combined OCs were initiated post partum the higher the associated rate ratio of depression.
Rapid-Acting Treatments for Perinatal Depression: Clinical Landscapes and Future Horizons.
Beydler EM, Koire A, Steuber E, Taylor JJ, Mergler RJ. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025 Apr 2;22(4):546.
MEDICATIONS AND BREASTFEEDING
No articles this week
PERINATAL SUBSTANCE USE
Association of prenatal alcohol exposure and prenatal depressive symptoms with offspring hair cortisol in childhood and adolescence.
Plank AC, Panaseth-Gehle K, Gerlach J, Mestermann S, Fasching PA, Beckmann MW, Kratz O, Moll GH, Lenz B, Kornhuber J, Eichler A; IMAC-Mind Konsortium. BMC Psychiatry. 2025 Nov 5;25(1):1060.
The study provides further evidence of long-term effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy on the HPA axis development of the child, as manifested in distinct trajectories of hair cortisol levels from primary school age to early adolescence.
MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH AND CHILD OUTCOMES
Exploring the developmental changes in and the relationship between maternal-offspring attachment and depression in perinatal women: A longitudinal study.
Huang Y, Nie S, Yang P, Pei Y, Dong M, Cui N, Zhang X, Cao F. J Affect Disord. 2026 Jan 2;399:121118.
Higher maternal-offspring bonding at one timepoint predicted significantly lower levels of depression at subsequent timepoints.
Trajectories of maternal bonding over the perinatal period: Associations with demographic, obstetric, psychological, and infant variables.
de Waal N, Hulsbosch LP, Schwabe I, Nyklí?ek I, Bogaerts S, Boekhorst MGBM. Infant Ment Health J. 2026 Jan;47(1):e70059.
Three distinct bonding trajectories were identified, characterized by consistently high, intermediate, or low bonding. Bonding increased between late pregnancy and 8 weeks postpartum, but not in the low bonding class. Women with a lower education, an intended pregnancy, a spontaneous vaginal birth, more partner support, fewer depressive symptoms, and less infant crying were more likely to belong to the high bonding class. Belonging to the low bonding class was associated with higher education, less partner support, more depressive symptoms, and more infant crying.
Maternal Depression across Early Childhood: Similarities and Differences across Three Liberal Democracies.
Cavanagh S, Saydam A. J Health Soc Behav. 2025 Dec 10:221465251395988.
Early family adversity trajectories and mental health in emerging adulthood: Differential impacts of contextual insecurity and relational adversity.
Huang R, Liu Q. Dev Psychopathol. 2025 Dec 18:1-14.
The researchers identified five patterns: Low Adversity, High-Stable Parenting Stress, High-Increasing Material Hardship, High-Decreasing IPV, and Multidimensional Persistent Adversity. Young adults in the Multidimensional Persistent Adversity and High-Decreasing IPV classes reported higher depression and anxiety than those in the Low Adversity or High-Stable Parenting Stress classes.
Prenatal psychological distress and neurodevelopmental trajectories in the first 3 years: a systematic review.
De Domenico C, Calderone A, Latella D, De Luca R, Corallo F, Cucinotta F, Cardile D, Quartarone A, Militi A, Calabrò RS. BMJ Open. 2025 Nov 11;15(11):e104716.
Higher maternal distress during pregnancy was associated with modest differences in cognitive and language scores and with elevated risks of behavioural and socioemotional difficulties. Children exposed to higher levels of distress more often showed attention problems, greater negative emotionality, lower verbal ability and weaker emotion regulation; however, these effects frequently were attenuated after adjustment for confounding factors.
Developmental origins of immune function: Maternal prenatal mood is associated with infant immune cell gene expression.
Rinne GR, Dunkel Schetter C, Jackman S, Cole SW. Brain Behav Immun. 2025 Dec 19;132:106230.
These findings suggest that depressive symptoms during pregnancy may influence infant immune function via inflammatory and antiviral transcriptional control pathways, with potential implications for subsequent health.
EEG trajectories across the first two years of life are associated with maternal depression, anxiety, and perceived stress.
Valdes V, Near J, Walsh EK, Pierce L, Conroy K, Lipton LR, Elansary MA, Nelson CA. J Affect Disord. 2026 Feb 1;394(Pt A):120587.
EEG findings highlight a potential neural pathway through which prenatal exposure to stress may influence subsequent developmental trajectories.
MENOPAUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH
No articles this week
OTHER TOPICS IN WOMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH
No articles this week
