Prenatal Depression

Risk for moderate to severe depressive symptoms during pregnancy varied widely across 20 different racial and ethnic groups, suggesting women from different cultural backgrounds view and report depression symptoms differently, data show.

Mental health counseling is more effective at mitigating the risk for preterm birth compared with antidepressant treatment among pregnant women with depression, researchers reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Routine screening for adverse childhood experiences and resilience may identify women at risk for developing depression or anxiety during pregnancy, according to a retrospective cohort study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Dexmedetomidine administration early in the postpartum period was associated with significantly lower positive postpartum depression incidence compared with placebo, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.

Women with prenatal depression were more likely to develop new CVD after delivery compared with those without prenatal depression, according to a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Pregnant people with a diagnosis of prenatal depression are more likely to be diagnosed with new CVD in the 24 months after delivery, even without co-occurring hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, researchers reported.

Psychiatric control and discordant-sibling design studies did not support an association between prenatal antidepressant exposure and autism, according to results of a meta-analysis published in American Journal of Psychiatry.

Women in low-income countries were significantly more likely to experience prenatal depression compared with women in middle-income countries, according to results of a systematic review and meta-analysis published in PLOS One.