New research on metabolomic pathways supports the case to routinely screen for antenatal depression

Sad pregnant asian woman

Nora Rosenberg summarises the largest and most comprehensive study to date on metabolomic pathways to antenatal depression, birth outcomes and offspring development.

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Psychotropic medication during pregnancy: new umbrella review finds no convincing evidence of adverse health outcomes for the baby

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Flo Martin summarises a recent umbrella review which finds that we still have limited knowledge about the safety of psychotropic drug use in pregnancy.

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Are current perinatal depression screening practices following guidelines’ recommendations?

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Angelica Tong summarises a recent Chinese review of perinatal depression screening and international guideline recommendations, which finds that routine screening and referrals for perinatal depression were not widely adopted in clinical practice.

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Preconception depression in first-time Fathers is a risk factor for depression and suicidality after birth

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Francesca Kingston summarises an Australian longitudinal study of perinatal mental health and suicidality in first-time Fathers, which finds that postnatal depression and and suicidal thinking are common in new Dads.

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A review of guidelines for perinatal mental health: psychological and psychosocial assessment and intervention

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Lucy Purnell summarises a systematic review of clinical psychological guidance for perinatal mental health from the UK, Australia and Canada.

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Community perinatal teams associated with more mental health service access and fewer postnatal relapses

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Roxanne Keynejad summarises the ESMI-II study on community perinatal mental health teams and mental health, obstetric and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women.

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How do Black and South Asian women experience perinatal mental health services?

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KCL Masters student Madeline Katta-Worae considers a UK qualitative study of perinatal mental health services, which explores the experiences of ethnically minoritised women.

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Brief interpersonal therapy may help relieve maternal depression during pregnancy

a pregnant woman in a grey top makes a heart shape with her hands over her pregnancy bump

In this blog, Francesca Kingston summaries a clinical trial from the US Care Project, which investigated whether depression can be reduced during pregnancy and before birth using a brief, safe intervention.

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The burden of perinatal mental illness in migrant women: new evidence on prevalence and risk factors

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In her debut Mental Elf blog, Gilda Spaducci explores the global prevalence of perinatal mental disorders among migrant women; summarising a recent review which finds that “one in four experience perinatal depression, one in five perinatal anxiety, and one in eleven perinatal PTSD”.

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“Like being a pretender”: A meta-synthesis of experiences of loneliness in perinatal depression

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In her debut blog, Francesca Kingston explores experiences of loneliness among women with perinatal depression, reported in a new meta-synthesis published in BMC Psychiatry.

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