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.

Oxidative Stress Impairs Fatty Acid Oxidation and Mitochondrial Function in the Term Placenta.

Placental fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is impaired and lipid storage is increased in pregnancy states associated with chronic oxidative stress. The effect of acute oxidative stress, as seen in pregnancies complicated with asthma, on placental lipid metabolism is unknown. We hypothesized that induction of acute oxidative stress would decrease FAO and increase esterification.