Mood Disorders in Women: Focus on the Postpartum

Women’s Health in Primary Care

Download Article

Postpartum mood disturbances are common in women. Parents should be educated to expect postpartum blues, which typically subside without treatment. Postpartum depression, however, is debilitating and can impair the mother’s ability to respond to her infant, affecting the baby’s cognitive and emotional development. If untreated, it can lead to chronic depression or suicide in the mother. Postpartum psychosis is widely considered to be a manifestation of bipolar disorder, and it carries a risk of infanticide. Here Dr. Burt reviews the risk factors, clinical presentation, and treatment of postpartum mood disorders and considers the question of breastfeeding during treatment with psychotropic medication.

Relapse of Major Depression During Pregnancy in Women Who Maintain or Discontinue Antidepressant Treatment

Journal of the American Medical Association — Vol 295, No. 5

Download Article

Context
Pregnancy has historically been described as a time of emotional wellbeing, providing “protection” against psychiatric disorder. However, systematic delineation of risk of relapse in women who maintain or discontinue pharmacological treatment during pregnancy is necessary.

Objective
To describe risk of relapse in pregnant women who discontinued antidepressant medication proximate to conception compared with those who maintained treatment with these medications.