Depression and anxiety through pregnancy and the early postpartum : an examination of prospective relationships

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the prospective relationship between depressive symptoms and anxiety across pregnancy and the early postpartum.
Methods: Participants (N=207) completed the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory Trait subscale, Beck Depression Inventory, and social support and sleep quality measures at two time points during pregnancy and once in the early postpartum period.
Results: After accounting for the relative stability of anxiety and depression over time, depressive symptoms earlier in pregnancy predicted higher levels of anxiety in late pregnancy and anxiety in late pregnancy predicted higher depressive symptomatology in the early postpartum. A bi-directional model of depression and anxiety in pregnancy was supported.
Limitations: Data were based on self-reports and participating women were predominantly tertiary educated with high family incomes.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that depressive symptoms precede the development of higher levels of anxiety and that anxiety, even at non-clinical levels, can predict higher depressive symptoms. Clinicians are advised to screen for anxiety and depression concurrently during pregnancy.

Developmental outcomes of children exposed to antidepressants in pregnancy

Objective: To examine the developmental outcomes in children exposed to antidepressants in utero and compare those to children not exposed to these medications
Method: A prospective case-controlled study of children exposed to antidepressants in pregnancy assessed 22 exposed and 19 not exposed children using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, third edition. The control group was measured at a mean age of 23.09 (SD 3.82) months and the medicated group at 28.53 months (SD 6.22). Maternal variables were assessed using a purpose-designed questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory (II) in pregnancy and at three assessments in the postpartum.
Results: Children exposed to antidepressant medication in pregnancy scored lower on motor subscales in particular on fine motor scores than non-exposed children with a moderate effect size of Cohen ’ s d = 0.47 fi ne motor and Cohen ’ s d = 0.43 for gross motor. Due to lack of power these findings did not reach conventional criteria for statistical significance. There was no association found between maternal depression and neurodevelopment.
Conclusions: This finding of a possible effect from antidepressant exposure in pregnancy on children ’ s motor development is similar to the findings from a previous study. Future research is needed which assesses children at an older age using specific assessments of motor development.

The unwanted land

The exhibition/art project will consisted of work by artists who have been through migration and who, in their work, reflect upon issues of relocation/resettlement. The artworks were in the form of spatial (multi/mixed media) installations (and performances) aiming at visualizing migration experience and identification to achieve (new) contexts (and perspectives).

Men’s emotional responses to their partner’s pregnancy and their views on support and information received

The main aim of this study was to extend previous research of men’s experiences of pregnancy; 48 Australian men and their pregnant partners took part. Most men reported feeling positive about the pregnancy, emotionally well supported and well informed. Men reported receiving more valuable information from their partner than from doctors/obstetricians, family or the internet and were accurate observers of women’s depression levels.

The safety of medications for the treatment of bipolar disorder during pregnancy and the peurperium

Risks associated with pharmacological treatment of bipolar disorder are heightened during reproductive events. Treatments need to be planned with the mutual agreement of both the treating physician and the patient and tailored to the needs of the individual so as to minimise risk while providing adequate treatment. Conventional treatments have all been associated with teratogeny in first trimester exposure, lithium with cardiac malformation and valproate and carbamazepine with neural tube malformations. There have been an insufficient number of first trimester exposures to the newer anticonvulsant mood stabilisers, lamotrigine and oxcarbazepine, to determine whether there is a safety advantage in switching to these agents. Increasingly, atypical antipsychotics are being suggested as useful agents for the treatment of bipolar disorder. While not known to be teratogenic, there are other reproductive safety concerns associated with these agents. Bipolar disorder patients may be prescribed antidepressants, and many of these agents are associated with a low safety risk during reproductive events, however data regarding use of these agents are currently equivocal. Adverse outcomes from inadequate pharmacological prophylaxis have been documented for both the mother and the baby. Risks and benefits need to be carefully balanced based on an accurate review of the evidence.

Dads doing it tough during partner's pregnancy : busting the blues

Baby blues aren't just about mothers; dads are doing it hard too.