A news and events roundup on everything postpartum depression-related for you:
* Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services in Michigan has launched a new Mother and Baby Day Program for postpartum depression treatment. The second of its kind in the nation, it allows mothers being treated for perinatal mental illness to bring their babies with them. The creators of the program have a wish list of items they’d like to have on hand to help support the moms and babies who go through their postpartum depression program. You can donate anything from a $10 stuffed animal to $20 worth of baby wipes to a $100 pack-n-play.
* The MGH Center for Women’s Mental Health took a look at new research on antidepressants taken during pregnancy and the risk for cardiovascular heart defects. They say the Danish study’s authors concluded, “… that while the risk of cardiovascular malformations was somewhat higher in the SSRI-exposed group [50 out of 1,000 pregnancies] compared to the non-exposed group [45 out of 1,000 pregnancies], it did not differ significantly from the risk in the paused group. Given these findings, it is not possible to conclude that SSRIs cause septal defects. Instead, this study suggests that there might be other confounding factors involved that are present in women who are treated with SSRIs.”
* Research into the effectiveness of the implementation of the National Perinatal Depression Initiative, launched in 2009 in Australia, finds that, of those hospitals participating in the research, most screened for depression during pregnancy but only one conducted postpartum depression screening. Most screening was being conducted by midwives who had received less than four hours of training on perinatal depression.
* One study finds that mothers in Australia who bring their infants to the emergency room have a higher likelihood of having postpartum depression.
* The Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative will be hosting a conference entitled “Unexpected Birth Outcomes: Maternal Triggers for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” on December 6 from 8:30 to noon in Mt. Laurel, NJ. Nursing and social work contact hours are available. Registration is only $25. Click here for more information.
* Sandy Wolkoff is conducting research for her dissertation on parental depression. If you are a mom or dad living in or around Long Island or New York who is a first time parent with a baby between 2 and 18 months old, you may be eligible for this study. Contact Sandy at sandy.wolkoff@gmail.com. Participants will be eligible to win a $30 gift card.
* Walker Karraa is conducting research for her dissertation among women who have had postpartum depression. Following initial screening interviews, participants will be asked to participate in an interview to take place either by telephone or in person at a mutually agreeable time and a neutral location. The total time commitment for participation is estimated at 4 hours spread over several weeks. If you’re interested, contact her at walker@walkerkarraa.com.
thanks for all the news…it is great to hear of the work being done, and the state of play with regard to PND. Was interested in the screening for PND in Australia. In Tasmania it is pretty common for it to be screened for by Child Health Workers as part of the support given to mums over the 18 months after birth, which also includes things like new mum groups to routine health check-ups for kids, info on milestones etc. They are very good, and well trained, and use the Edinborough scale (?) to help work out if someone has PND. But they are not SUPER well trained in this area. The times PND came up, I realise now I answered some questions incorrectly as I didn’t understand what they meant, and yet I suspect I had PND even back then. Also they said something about not ‘talking yourself into it’, as if you could MAKE yourself depressed, and then they didn’t seem equipped to talk about ways treating it and were at a complete loss to explain how counselling can help. Its a shame b a lot of the new mums use the Child Health Nurses after birth, for so many different things.