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
No articles this week
PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS DURING PREGNANCY
Maternal vulnerability to insomnia: Relationship with poor newborn sleep and peripartum psychopathology.
Palagini L, Bruni O, Colizzi M, Comacchio C, Gemignani A, Nobili L, Balestrieri M, Drake CL; Insomnia in Pregnancy Research Group (IPRG). Sleep Med. 2025 Aug 6;134:106732.
Prenatal elevated sleep reactivity predicted postpartum insomnia (OR 4.50), anxiety (OR 3.44), depressive symptoms (OR 4.45), and poor newborn sleep (OR 3.43).
Neurophysiological features in women with antenatal depressive symptoms: a resting-state quantitative electroencephalography study.
Kim HJ, Lee D, Kim J, Kim NY, Hong S, Myung W, Lee H, Park JY. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2025 Aug 11.
Distinct qEEG patterns in pregnant women with EPDS ?10 suggest potential for qEEG as an objective biomarker of antenatal depression.
Psychological Distress and Maternal Outcomes in Women With Pre-eclampsia: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.
Gangi FE, Faramarzi M, Bouzari Z, Khafri S, Bazgir MR, Netadj M. Health Sci Rep. 2025 Aug;8(8):e71133.
Women with preeclampsia had increased prevalence of anxiety and depression, associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Restless Legs Syndrome During Pregnancy and Puerperium.
Hackethal S, Esteves AM, Riccardi S, Garbazza C, Manconi M. Sleep. 2025 Jul 25.
Around 20% of women experienced severe to very severe RLS symptoms, persisting across all trimesters.
MEDICATIONS AND PREGNANCY
No articles this week
POSTPARTUM PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS
Positive psychology-based intervention programme for postpartum depression among pregnant women within the primary healthcare system: protocol for a RCT.
Fan Z, Weng M, Su J, Yu R, Wang J, Yin X, Xia W, Gong Y. BMJ Open. 2025 Aug;15(8):e101115.
This RCT protocol evaluates whether a positive psychology intervention in primary care can reduce postpartum depression risk.
Suicidal ideation in the postpartum period: A population-based study of prevalence and risk factors.
Despotis A, Harrison S, Quigley MA, Alderdice F, Fellmeth G. J Affect Disord. 2025 Nov;389:119707.
In this population survey, 11.4% of women reporting suicidal ideation postpartum did not meet criteria for probable depression, underscoring the importance of screening beyond depression scales.
Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors From Pregnancy to Postpartum: Risk Factors and Clinical Implications.
Molina NC, Kaliush PR, Mendes S, Pappal AE, Wright KR, Zhou AM, King KM, Conradt E, Crowell SE. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2025 Jun;55(3):e70030.
Women were more than three times as likely to engage in self-injurious behaviors during postpartum compared to pregnancy.
Behavioral Activation for Perinatal Suicide Ideation: Secondary Analysis of a RCT.
Kaliush PR, Molina NC, Berenbaum TS, Dennis CL, Gaynes BN, Meltzer-Brody S, Reyes-Rodríguez ML, Silver RK, Stuebe AM, Vigod SN, Schiller CE, Singla DR. JAMA Psychiatry. 2025 Aug 20.
Behavioral activation psychotherapy significantly reduced perinatal suicidal ideation, with risk decreasing most at 3 months postrandomization.
Incidence and Risk Factors for Suicide Attempt During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period.
Goldman-Mellor S, Olfson M, Gemmill A, Margerison C. J Clin Psychiatry. 2025 Mar 5;86(2):24m15633.
Several clinical factors—including prenatal suicide attempt visits, assault, ED psychiatric visits, and major psychiatric diagnoses—were associated with a 4–30 fold increased risk of suicide attempt postpartum.
Association between the effectiveness of labor epidural analgesia and postpartum depression: a prospective cohort study.
Krusic SB, Milic JZ, Sharpe EE, Pejcic NZ, Pujic BP, Stojanovic-Tasic MP, Djakovic ED, Curkovic AI, Perovic MD, Pikula AA, Rancic NK, Odalovic MM, Babic GM. J Anesth. 2025 Aug 9.
While epidural analgesia provided effective pain relief, it did not affect the risk of postpartum depression; maternal perception of pain relief may be more impactful.
Treatment of Traumatic Birth Experience with Postpartum Early Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Hendrix YMGA, van Pampus MG, Hofman A, Henrichs J, van der Horst HE, de Jongh A. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2025 Aug 4.
EMDR therapy was effective and safe for reducing PTSD symptoms and distress following traumatic birth.
Postpartum Distress Among Women With and Without ADHD.
Babinski DE, Riggle K, Tuan WJ. J Clin Psychiatry. 2025 May;86(3):24m15724.
Women with ADHD reported higher rates of depression, OCD, and stress-related disorders postpartum compared to those without ADHD.
Mom Supporting Mom: Effective Peer Support Intervention for Women with Postpartum Psychological Distress.
Sebela A, Horakova A, Nemcova H, Kuklova M, Noskova E, Svancer P, Byatt N, Janovska A, Hrdlickova K. Psychosoc Interv. 2025 Sep;34(3):151-160.
This peer support intervention reduced depressive and anxiety symptoms and improved quality of life, highlighting its utility as a scalable, low-intensity intervention.
Effects of maternal depression and self-efficacy during pregnancy on postpartum bonding.
Bergmann R, Märthesheimer S, Hagenbeck C, Balan P, Fehm T, Schaal NK. J Reprod Infant Psychol. 2025 Aug 3.
Higher depression and lower maternal self-efficacy during pregnancy predicted impaired mother-infant bonding at 6 months postpartum.
Causal Relationship Between Migraine and Postpartum Depression: A Mendelian Randomization Study.
Zhou XJ, Chen R, Niu YM. J Pain Res. 2025 Jul 22;18:3675-3687.
This MR study found no significant causal relationship between migraine and postpartum depression.
Associations of NICU-Specific Stressors with Postpartum Depression.
Mari KE, Hoke MK, Darden N, Burris HH. Am J Perinatol. 2025 Jul 24.
41% of NICU mothers screened positive for PPD, strongly associated with stressors related to parental role loss.
The Impact of Online Mindfulness Interventions on Postpartum Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Liu Q, Yuan J, Shi S, Du M, Jiang Y. Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2025 Aug;34(4):e70085.
This meta-analysis of 23 RCTs (2,725 participants) showed online mindfulness interventions significantly reduced PPD symptoms.
Breastfeeding interventions for preventing postpartum depression.
Lenells M, Uphoff E, Marshall D, Wilson E, Gustafsson A, Wells MB, Andersson E, Dennis CL. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2025 Feb 18;2:CD014833.
Psychosocial breastfeeding interventions may modestly reduce short-term risk of PPD and increase breastfeeding duration.
MEDICATIONS AND BREASTFEEDING
No articles this week
PERINATAL SUBSTANCE USE
No articles this week
MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH AND CHILD OUTCOMES
Perinatal Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Brain Connectivity Among 9- to 15-Year-Old Offspring.
Koc D, Hermans APC, Xu B, Muetzel RL, El Marroun H, Tiemeier H. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jul;8(7):e2523978.
Prenatal maternal depression was associated with altered trajectories of functional brain connectivity in children ages 9–15 years.
MENOPAUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH
No articles this week
OTHER TOPICS IN WOMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH
No articles this week
