Rates of Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder in Black and White Postpartum Women.

Little is known about differences between Black and White women with respect to the prevalence of postpartum mood disorders or symptom presentations. To determine the prevalence and characteristics of postpartum major mood disorders in Black and White women at 4-6 weeks after birth. This is a secondary analysis of a large-scale study designed to screen women for postpartum depression with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and collect symptom data.

Correction: Temporal changes in the systemic concentrations of retinoids in pregnant and postpartum women.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Fetal behavior and gestational serotonin reuptake inhibitor exposure: relationships between behavior, drug dosage, plasma drug level, and a measure of drug bioeffect.

Determination of the relationships between drug dosage, maternal and infant (cord blood) plasma drug concentrations, and serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) bioeffect on offspring neurobehavior is crucial to assessing the effects of gestational SRI exposure. Measurement of maternal and cord blood platelet serotonin (5-HT) provides an index of inhibitory bioeffect at the 5-HT transporter and complements other measures of drug exposure. Three groups of mother-infant pairs were evaluated: (1) mothers with depression untreated with SRIs (DEP, n = 17), (2) mothers treated for depression with SRIs (DEP + SRI, n = 17), and (3) mothers who were not depressed and untreated (ND, n = 29).

The pathophysiology of estrogen in perinatal depression: conceptual update.

Purpose: Estrogen levels fall sharply after parturition and have long been considered an etiologic contributor to postpartum depression (PPD); however, no differences have been reported in plasma hormone concentrations in people who develop PPD. We examine the question: What is the current view of estrogen and the neurophysiologic processes it impacts in the development and treatment of PPD?

Methods: A literature review of the role of estrogen on candidate hormonal and epigenetic systems in the peripartum period was performed, including landmark historical studies and recent publications on estrogen-related research. The authors reviewed these papers and participated in reaching consensus on a conceptual framework of estrogen activity within the complexity of pregnancy physiology to examine its potential role for driving novel interventions.

Pharmacogenomic Characterization of Childbearing-Aged Individuals With Mood Disorders in a Tertiary Care Perinatal Mental Health Clinic.

The effectiveness of antidepressant treatment for mood disorders is often limited by either a poor response or the emergence of adverse effects. These complications often necessitate multiple drug trials. This clinical challenge intensifies during pregnancy, when medications must be selected to improve the likelihood of response and optimize reproductive outcomes.

Depression in Persons With Epilepsy: Lessons From Case Review.

Background: Major depressive disorder is highly prevalent among persons with epilepsy (PWEs). Between 30% and 50% of PWEs suffer from depression. Many factors contribute to this prevalence, including the psychosocial impact of the diagnosis, restrictions on driving and certain types of work, and adverse effects associated with antiseizure medications.

Risk of Autism after Prenatal Topiramate, Valproate, or Lamotrigine Exposure.

Background: Maternal use of valproate during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Although most studies of other antiseizure medications have not shown increased risks of these disorders, there are limited and conflicting data regarding the risk of autism spectrum disorder associated with maternal topiramate use.

Methods: We identified a population-based cohort of pregnant women and their children within two health care utilization databases in the United States, with data from 2000 through 2020.

Concentrations of Fluoxetine Enantiomers Decline During Pregnancy and Increase After Birth.

Rationale: Few studies of the effect of the dynamic physiologic changes during pregnancy on plasma concentrations of fluoxetine (FLX) have been published.

Objectives: We determined the change in concentration to dose (C/D) ratios of R- and S-FLX and R- and S-norfluoxetine monthly during pregnancy and postpartum, assessed their relationships to cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 and CYP2C9 metabolizer phenotypes, and evaluated the course of their depressive and anxiety symptoms.

Methods: In this observational study, 10 FLX-treated pregnant individuals provided blood samples at steady state every 4 weeks during pregnancy and once postpartum for measurement of plasma FLX and norfluoxetine enantiomer concentrations.

Prioritizing Maternal Mental Health in Addressing Morbidity and Mortality.

Importance: The rate of maternal mortality in the United States is 2-fold to 3-fold greater than that in other high-income countries. While many national initiatives have been developed to combat maternal mortality, these efforts often fail to include mental illness.

Objective: To highlight the underrecognized contribution of mental illness to maternal mortality, which is nearly double that of postpartum hemorrhage.

Prescription Stimulant Use During Pregnancy and Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children.

Importance: Use of medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during pregnancy is increasing in the US. Whether exposure to these medications in utero impacts the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children is uncertain.

Objective: To evaluate the association of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders with in utero exposure to stimulant medications for ADHD.

Factors Associated with Depressive and Anxiety Symptom Trajectories Across Pregnancy and Postpartum in Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Treated Individuals.

Objective: The primary purpose of this article is to identify factors that are associated with worsening mood and anxiety trajectories across the perinatal period among pregnant individuals receiving treatment with a selective-serotonin reupdate inhibitor.

Methods: This secondary analysis of primary data from the original article, Trajectories of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Across Pregnancy and Postpartum in Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Treated Women, explores if number of lifetime episodes of depression as characterized in the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, elevated maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACE) score, or specific obstetric or neonatal factors from the Peripartum Events Scale (PES) were associated with membership in trajectory groups with the highest symptom burden.

Results: No difference in ACE scores or obstetric or neonatal factors were associated with membership in the trajectory groups using Wilcoxon rank sum tests and bi-variable logistic regression.

Perinatal Depression Screening Among Sexual Minority Women.

Importance: A substantial number of births in the US are to sexual minority women (17% based on a nationally representative survey), yet there is little research on perinatal depression screening rates or symptom endorsement among sexual minority women (including women who identify as lesbian, bisexual, queer, pansexual, asexual, demisexual, and kinky as well as other-identified women who have sex with women). High rates of risk factors for perinatal depression (eg, intimate partner violence and history of mental illness) among sexual minority individuals magnify this gap in the literature.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of female-identified sexual minority people giving birth in an academic medical center and compare perinatal depression screening rates and scores among sexual minority women and heterosexual cisgender women.

Long-term neurodevelopmental follow-up of children exposed to pravastatin in utero.

Background: Preeclampsia, especially before term, increases the risk of child neurodevelopmental adverse outcomes. Biological plausibility, preclinical studies, and pilot clinical trials conducted by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Obstetric-Fetal Pharmacology Research Centers Network support the safety and use of pravastatin to prevent preeclampsia.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of antenatal pravastatin treatment in high-risk pregnant individuals on their child's health, growth, and neurodevelopment.

Comparative effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention (M-Body) on depressive symptoms: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).

Background: Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to improve psychological outcomes including stress, anxiety, and depression in general population studies. However, effectiveness has not been sufficiently examined in racially and ethnically diverse community-based settings. We will evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of a mindfulness-based intervention on depressive symptoms among predominantly Black women at a Federally Qualified Health Center in a metropolitan city.

Temporal changes in the systemic concentrations of retinoids in pregnant and postpartum women.

Retinoids and vitamin A are essential for multiple biological functions, including vision and immune responses, as well as the development of an embryo during pregnancy. Despite its importance, alterations in retinoid homeostasis during normal human pregnancy are incompletely understood. We aimed to characterize the temporal changes in the systemic retinoid concentrations across pregnancy and postpartum period.

Pregnant, miserable, and starving in 21st century America.

Severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy is too common and devastating to be trivialized any longer. Authors of recent studies observed that children exposed in utero to severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy had an increased risk for autism spectrum disorder, a decreased brain cortical volume, and developmental deficits. Research on severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum has been disturbingly slow.

Trajectories of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Across Pregnancy and Postpartum in Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor-Treated Women.

Objective: Tracking perinatal mood and anxiety disorders is championed by the American Psychiatric Association and the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health. We conducted this study to examine trajectories of monthly depressive and anxiety symptoms through pregnancy and postpartum.

Methods: This is a prospective longitudinal observational cohort study of pregnant women interviewed at baseline (≤18th gestational week), every four weeks through delivery and at 6 and 14 weeks postpartum at three urban academic medical centers ( = 85) and a single rural health center ( = 3) from 2016 to 2020.

Association of Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy With Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children.

Importance: Antidepressant use during pregnancy has been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in children in some studies. However, results may be explained by uncontrolled confounding by parental mental health status, genetics, and environmental factors.

Objective: To evaluate the association between antidepressant use in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children.

Changes in Sertraline Plasma Concentrations Across Pregnancy and Postpartum.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common disorder in pregnancy. Although sertraline is the most frequently prescribed antidepressant for pregnant people in the United States, limited information about its pharmacokinetics in pregnancy is available. Our objectives were to characterize plasma sertraline concentration to dose (C/D) ratios across pregnancy and postpartum and investigate the effect of pharmacogenetic variability on sertraline elimination.

Are empathic processes mechanisms of pregnancy's protective effect on smoking? Identification of a novel target for preventive intervention.

Background: Spontaneous cessation and reduction in smoking by pregnant women suggest that concern about others, or empathy, could be a malleable target for intervention. We examined various empathy-related processes in relations to reported and biochemically assessed smoking during pregnancy.

Methods: Participants were 154 pregnant women (M = 12.

Lithium Pharmacokinetics in the Perinatal Patient With Bipolar Disorder.

The pharmacokinetics of lithium, the gold standard for the treatment of bipolar disorder, are well described in nonpregnant patients. Because lithium is commonly prescribed to women of childbearing age, more data are essential to characterize lithium pharmacokinetics during the perinatal period. Lithium is primarily eliminated by the kidney.

Association of Antipsychotic Drug Exposure in Pregnancy With Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A National Birth Cohort Study.

Importance: Although antipsychotic drugs cross the placenta and animal data suggest potential neurotoxic effects, information regarding human neurodevelopmental teratogenicity is limited.

Objective: To evaluate whether children prenatally exposed to antipsychotic medication are at an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD).

Design, Settings, And Participants: This birth cohort study used data from the Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX, 2000-2014) and the IBM Health MarketScan Research Database (MarketScan, 2003-2015) for a nationwide sample of publicly (MAX) and privately (MarketScan) insured mother-child dyads with up to 14 years of follow-up.