Postpartum Depression News and Research

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Eighty percent of women experience some level of the baby blues after giving birth, and symptoms usually clear up on their own. One in eight-to-ten women experiences postpartum depression. When symptoms don't go away in a few weeks, women should seek help through health care providers and licensed counselors. Treatment may include talk therapy, medication, support groups, or a combination of these.

New tool improves assessment of postpartum depression symptoms

In the current issue of Family Medicine and Community Health (Volume 6,Number 3, 2018, pp.104-114; DOI:https://doi.org/10.15212/FMCH.2018.0109, researchers Ajibola A. Ishola, Chisom C. Obasi and Ismail T. Sholuke of the Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, describes how having a baby is often marked by disturbance in mood, and the birth of a premature baby can put mothers at greater risk of psychological distress than the birth of a full-term baby.

5 Oct 2018

Fewer daylight hours during late pregnancy may increase risk of postpartum depression

Women in late pregnancy during darker months of the year may have a greater risk of developing postpartum depression once their babies are born.

27 Sep 2018

Mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus have elevated risk of postpartum depression symptoms

Mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus have an elevated risk of developing postpartum depression symptoms, according to a new Finnish study.

4 Sep 2018

Screening mothers for PPD in emergency setting

It's a scenario that Children's emergency medicine specialist Lenore Jarvis, M.D., M.Ed., has seen countless times: A mother brings her infant to the emergency department in the middle of the night with a chief complaint of the baby being fussy. Nothing she does can stop the incessant crying, she tells the triage nurse.

30 Jun 2018

Depression symptoms can persist six months after NICU discharge for young parents

Young parents who have less education and care for more than one child are more likely to have persistent symptoms of depression that linger six months after their newborn is discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit, according to a Children's National Health System research presentation during the Pediatric Academic Societies 2018 annual meeting.

7 May 2018

Cedars-Sinai researchers explore risk factors associated with mental health of new mothers

Cedars-Sinai investigators are examining the risk factors associated with mental health issues experienced by many women after giving birth.

3 May 2018

Maternal placentophagy does not cause harm to newborn babies, study finds

The largest study of its kind found mothers who consumed their placenta passed on no harm to their newborn babies when compared to infants of mothers who did not consume their placenta.

3 May 2018

Researchers urge federal policymakers to address perinatal depression among minority women

Despite Latinas' and African-American women's increased risks of perinatal depression and the availability of reliable screening tools and national awareness campaigns, research has shown that these women are significantly less likely to be screened or treated.

30 Mar 2018

Docs worry there’s ‘nowhere to send’ new and expectant moms with depression

Lawmakers in California will begin debate next month on a bill that would require doctors to screen new moms for mental health problems — once while they’re pregnant and again after they give birth.

19 Mar 2018

Online program increases depression treatment rates among adolescent mothers

An online program persuaded teenage mothers across 10 Kentucky counties to seek medical help for depression, highlighting an inexpensive way to increase mental health treatment rates for the vulnerable group, according to a University of Louisville study.

16 Mar 2018

Intermountain Medical Center launches rooming-in program to support bonding between mothers and newborns

Mothers and babies belong together -; which is why Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City has launched a rooming-in program to support early bonding between mothers and newborns.

15 Feb 2018

Nurse calls cops after new mom seeks help for depression. Right call?

Four months after having her second baby, Jessica Porten started feeling really irritable. Little things would annoy her, like her glider chair.

7 Feb 2018

As marijuana laws relax, doctors say pregnant women shouldn’t partake

Two-year-old Maverick Hawkins sits on a red, plastic car in his grandmother’s living room in the picturesque town of Nevada City, Calif., in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. His playpal Delilah Smith, a fellow 2-year-old, snacks on hummus and cashews and delights over the sounds of her Princess Peppa Pig stuffie.

31 Jan 2018

Higher hair cortisol levels during pregnancy could be indicator of postpartum depression

Researchers from the University of Granada, who belong to the Brain, Mind and Behavior Research Center and the Faculty of Psychology, have proven that cortisol levels (a steroid hormone secreted as a response to stress) present in the hair of pregnant women during the first or third trimesters of pregnancy may indicate which of them are more likely to suffer postpartum depression.

14 Nov 2017

The Obesity Society position statement focuses on breastfeeding and obesity

In accordance with the World Health Organization recommendation of optimal infant feeding practices, and as interpreted in policy documents of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, it is the position of The Obesity Society that women should be encouraged and supported to exclusively breastfeed for approximately the first six months of an infant's life with continued breastfeeding through the infant's first year and beyond as age-appropriate complementary foods are introduced and as mutually desired by the mother and child.

31 Oct 2017