New study finds thatantidepressants may raise risk for pregnancy complications

Heath Day News reports that pregnant women taking antidepressants known as SSRIs are at a higher risk of developing high blood pressure. To read the full article click on the link below.



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Antidepressants and breast-feeding

A new study finds that pregnant women who take selective serotonin re uptake inhibitors may need more nursing education. To find out more please click on the link below.

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Acupunture and Pregnancy Sucess Rates

A new study has found that the centuries old therapy of acupuncture therapy can help both men and women alike with fertility issues. Click below for the full article.



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More Newborns are Suffering From Drug Withdrawl at Birth

A new study reports that doctors are seeing more women taking illicit drugs and prescription painkillers during pregnancy. To find out more click on the link below.

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Childbering and Grief and Loss Impact

This article talks about how to deal with the loss of a child and also how to talk to someone how has just lost a child. Click on the link below for more.

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New research artlice talks about when Mom-to-be's overweight and smokes

Study reports that mom's that are overweight and smoke have more than doubled the odds of heart damage in thier newborns. To read more about this please click on the link below.

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Stress and fetal development

High stress during fetal development could  cause premature aging, according to a study in chickens, which was published on November 9 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. For more information or to read the article please click on the link below.

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Managing depression while pregnant

Click on the Article link below to read about how to manage depression during pregnancy.

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New study suggests ways to prevent Postpartum OCD

New study suggests ways to prevent Postpartum OCD. Go to the website listed below to read more about this exciting new study. The article is from Science Daily on August 22, 2011.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110818132219.htm?utm_source=fee

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In the News: PPD Screening

The American Academy of Pediatrics just published a report about encouraging the screening of new mothers and fathers for depression.

"Every year, more than 400 000 infants are born to mothers who are depressed, which makes perinatal depression the most underdiag- nosed obstetric complication in America. Postpartum depression leads to increased costs of medical care, inappropriate medical care, child abuse and neglect, discontinuation of breastfeeding, and family dysfunction and adversely affects early brain development. Pediatric practices, as medical homes, can establish a system to implement postpartum depression screening and to identify and use community resources for the treatment and referral of the depressed mother and support for the mother-child (dyad) relationship. This system would have a positive effect on the health and well-being of the infant and family. State chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics, working with state Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) and maternal and child health programs, can increase awareness of the need for perinatal depression screening in the obstetric and pedi- atric periodicity of care schedules and ensure payment. Pediatricians must advocate for workforce development for professionals who care for very young children and for promotion of evidence-based interven- tions focused on healthy attachment and parent-child relationships."

The report is available for free to download

At Risk From the Womb

"Researchers are finding indications that obesity, diabetes and mental illness among adults are all related in part to what happened in the womb decades earlier."

"That study, published in 1989, provoked skepticism at first. But now an array of research confirms that the fetal period is a crucial stage of development that affects physiology decades later."

Read more at NY Times

Second Study provides evidence for smaller babies from depressed mothers

Another study supporting that depressed mother are at a higher risk of delivering smaller babies..

"In the United States, the likelihood of experiencing premature birth is even greater for depressed pregnant women living in poverty than for depressed pregnant women from middle- to high-socioeconomic backgrounds," said the lead author of the report, Dr. Nancy Grote, University of Washington (UW)research associate professor of social work. Compounding the situation, she added, "Poor women in America are twice as likely to experience depression, compared to other women in this country."

See Embracing Families first suggested study

View more of this latest study from Science Direct or at Pubmed

Research Study: Home Health preventing PPD

"Women who are given psychological support by specially trained health visitors are less likely to develop post-natal depression, says a report."

"The findings are in a study, from the universities of Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield, of more than 2,000 women following childbirth."

Read more from BBC News   |   A free version of the study

Research Study: Brain inactivity and PPD

"Women with postpartum depression have differences in brain functioning that may interfere not only with how they process their own emotions, but also with their ability to be responsive to the emotions of their infants, new research suggests."

"In a small study that involved MRI brain scans, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center revealed that women with postpartum depression have reduced activity in parts of the brain that control emotional responses and recognize emotional cues in others."

Read more from Nursing Knowledge International   |   Get study information from PubMed

Recommend Research Link

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of pregnancy and childbirth.

Depressed Mothers Deliver Smaller Babies

There are high prevalence of antepartum depression and low birth weight (LBW) in Bangladesh. In high- and low-income countries, prior evidence linking maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms with infant's LBW is conflicting. There is no research on association between maternal mental disorders and LBW in Bangladesh. This study aims to investigate the independent effect of maternal antepartum depressive and anxiety symptoms on LBW of infant among women in a rural district of Bangladesh.

Read More at Biomedcentral.com

Research Study: Perfectionists At Risk for Postpartum Depression

New mothers who think they should be perfect parents might be at risk for postpartum depression, a new study suggests.

The results show that a type of perfectionism in which individuals feel others expect them to be perfect, known as "socially prescribed perfectionism," is associated with postpartum depression for first-time mothers.

Read More at LiveScience.com

Research study: The brain science of PPD

The neurobiological mechanisms to explain postpartum blues and the high risk for the onset of postpartum depression in the first few weeks after delivery are unclear. Estrogen levels drop 100- to 1000-fold during the first 3 to 4 days postpartum, and changes in estrogen levels have an inverse relationship with monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) density. However, MAO-A levels have never been measured in the early postpartum period... Rather than a purely psychosocial model, we propose a neurobiological model of estrogen decline, followed by elevated MAO-A binding,low mood, and subsequently a period of high risk for major depressive episodes. Our model has important implications for preventing postpartum depression and for developing therapeutic strategiesthat target or compensate for elevated MAO-A levels during postpartum blues.

Read More at Archives of General Psychiatry

Pilot Study: Antenatal Cognitive-behavioral Therapy

Women with PPD complain of depressive mood, insomnia, frequent crying, lack of appetite and motivation, fatigue, and multiple somatic symptoms, inability to cope, low self-esteem, and suicidal ideation. We recruited 927 pregnant women in 6 obstetric and gynecology clinics and screened them using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Our pilot study has provided preliminary empirical evidence that antenatal CBT intervention can be an effective preventive treatment for PPD. Further study in this direction was suggested.

Read more at PubMed Central

In the News: Prenatal and Postpartum Depression in Fathers

It is well established that maternal prenatal and postpartum depression is prevalent and has negative personal,family, and child developmental outcomes. Paternal depression during this period may have similar characteristics, but data are based on an emerging and currently inconsistent literature.

Read more at JAMA.com (subscription required)

OR

Read a Summary at Medscape.com