New Study Shows State of Illinois a Leader in Legislation on Perinatal Mental Health

Having advanced six policies since 2008 to detect and promote treatment of perinatal mental health conditions, the state of Illinois has emerged as a leader in these critical health areas, according to a study by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign social work professors Karen M. Tabb, center, and Sandra Kopels. U. of I. alumnus Xavier Ramirez co-wrote the paper, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Rapid rise seen in mental health diagnosis and care during and after pregnancy

Mental health issues during pregnancy or the first year of parenthood have a much greater chance of getting detected and treated now than just over a decade ago, a trio of new studies suggests. But the rise in diagnosis and care hasn’t happened equally across different groups and states.

1 in 5 women experience mental health concerns during pregnancy & after childbirth. Dr. Diamond can discuss signs & share tips to help.

May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, and 1 in 5 women experience mental health concerns during pregnancy and after childbirth, but most go undetected and untreated. Rachel Diamond, Ph.D., LMFT, PMH-C, assistant professor of couple and family therapy at…

Inaugural Maternal Mental Health State Report Cards Released

Maternal Mental Health disorders like postpartum depression affect roughly 600,000 (20%) of U.S. mothers a year, with Black and other women of color experiencing substantial disparities in rates and access to care. It is estimated that up to 50% of mothers are not diagnosed by a health care professional, and that 75% of women never get the treatment they need and that is promised in health care coverage contracts.

More than 4 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths are preventable in the US, and mental health is the leading cause

Preventable failures in U.S. maternal health care result in far too many pregnancy-related deaths. Each year, approximately 700 parents die from pregnancy and childbirth complications. As such, the U.S. maternal mortality rate is more than double that of most other developed countries.

Racism, mistrust exacerbate psychiatric conditions in minority perinatal patients; new approaches needed to reduce healthcare disparities

Deeper understanding of medical mistrust among pregnant and postpartum racial and ethnic minority women, as well as collaborative care models and community partnerships, can help to mitigate racialized healthcare disparities in this patient population, suggests a new paper in Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

May Research Highlights

A Roundup of the Latest Medical Discoveries and Faculty News at Cedars-Sinai

Neuroactive Steroids May Induce Prolonged Antidepressant Effects by Altering Brain States

A new study by researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine and Sage Therapeutics discovered that neurosteroids (allopregnanolone analogs) may alter network states in brain regions involved in emotional processing, which may explain the prolonged antidepressant effects of these compounds.

Treating moms with postpartum depression helps their babies’ brains

For the study 40 infants of women diagnosed with postpartum depression were matched with 40 infants of non-depressed mothers on infant age, gender and socioeconomic status. The mothers with postpartum depression received nine weeks of group CBT. The infants were all tested before the treatment and nine weeks later, including a questionnaire on the infant behaviour completed by the mother and her partner.