I was offline yesterday. Can you believe that? Missed you terribly. I was going through blog withdrawal. But today I'm back!
I've decided today will be a research day and I'll share some bits of research that have recently come out about postpartum depression and related perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
First, a study was just published in the journal Depression and Anxiety on the impact of psychotropic drugs taken prenatally on infants' cognitive development. The study involved analyzing data from 41 other studies conducted over the last 50 years. It found that SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants did not seem to interfere with babies' psychological and cognitive development. It also found there wasn't enough data on newer drugs like antipsychotics yet, and that the data showed women should be strongly discouraged from taking valproate (Depacon) during pregnancy.
Asmall study out in the journal Bipolar Disorders finds that some women diagnosed with postpartum depression whose treatment with antidepressants is unsucessful may actually have bipolar disorder and require treatment with antipsychotic medication for successful recovery.
A study published in the Archives of Women's Mental Health provides "…the first large sample evidence that PPD is associated with the report of [previous or current] sexual or physical abuse."
And one final interesting tidbit:A study in the journal Birth finds that reality TV programs in the United States "do not give women an accurate portrayal of how women typically experience birth in the United States, nor are the shows consistent with evidence-based maternity practices." In particular, the study's authors state that "women's bodies were typically displayed as incapable of birthing a baby without medical intervention." Very interesting.The shows they reviewed are those appearing on Discovery Health and The Learning Channel — those baby shows that are widely watched by pregnant women.
Thanks so much for sharing this research, Katherine.
For many suffering women, much of what comes out of academia seems irrelevant…even though you and I might eat it up! 🙂 However, I encourage women whose lingering PPD is not seeming to completely remedy itself after weeks, months or even years on anti-depressants/therapy to take note of the second link. Do NOT discount this, even if you haven't been diagnosed with or don't think you are suffering from Bipolar Disorder. In my humble opinion, this could be true for many severe PPD/PPA/PPOCD cases…not just undiagnosed Bipolar.
I am exposing myself here, but it WAS an anti-psychotic medication that completely turned around my postpartum experience within 2 weeks of beginning that treatment. The anti-depressants did not offer any relief at all until we introduced the other meds. I took them at night, and since they have a side effect of extreme drowsiness they also helped my insomnia which allowed me deep sleep- allowing my brain to heal itself from the sleep deprivation while the meds finally worked to undo the damage of the anxiety, depression and obsessions. I believe this additional medication saved my life. While I have never suffered from Bipolar Disorder, this type of treatment was the answer to my prayers and the most effective treatment method for me.
Please consider discussing an anti-psychotic medication with your physician if you have a postpartum mood disorder that seems to be treatment resistant. You do not have to be "crazy" or psychotic to find benefit in taking these meds for a period of time.
I am so excited to see all this research! And I must say I'm probably most excited to see the research relating to antidepressants taken during pregnancy not negatively effecting babies. Great news for moms – and for their prescribing doctors. It just seems like there's been SUCH a limited amount of research on any of these topics, so it's just very refreshing to see this wide array of specific areas addressed by the research community.