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

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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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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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The pill and ‘baby blues’: does experiencing depression with hormonal contraception predict postpartum depression?

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Flo Martin explores a recent cohort study of Danish registry data that investigate whether women with a history of depression associated with using hormonal contraception were also at a higher risk of developing postpartum depression.

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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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Unprecedented times: pregnancy and mental health in the era of COVID-19

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Siobhan D’Almeida explores a recent paper which finds that pregnant individuals experienced high levels of anxiety and depression during COVID-19.

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Body weight and perinatal depression: what’s the link?

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In her debut blog, Sarah Nicholson summarises a systematic review of pre-pregnancy BMI and the risk of antenatal and postnatal depression.

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E-cigarettes vs nicotine patches: are either adequate to support pregnant smokers?

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In her debut blog, Tuba Saygın Avşar summarises a recent RCT, which finds that “E-cigarettes might help women who are pregnant to stop smoking, and their safety for use in pregnancy is similar to that of nicotine patches.”

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