PPD in the news

Two interesting news items related to postpartum depression popped up this past week. The first is news that researchers have identified a link between an oxytocin receptor blood marker in some women which increased their likelihood of experiencing postpartum depression. What does this mean? Well, if there were a blood test to give pregnant women to identify which ones were more likely to experience postpartum depression, we could proactively identify those women, doctors and families could put supports into place for the postpartum period ahead of time. 

The second story is about a change in recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force about screening adults for depression. Now, if you're like me, you might be asking yourself what the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is and what they do. Turns out, The Task Force is convened by Congress and reviews current clinical research to "improve the health of all Americans by making evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, and preventive medications." This Task Force is now recommending that all adults be screened for depression because of its prevalence (1 in 10 all adults in the US will experience depression), and they specifically identified that all pregnant and postpartum women be screened. 

---

My reactions

It's great when postpartum depression gets media attention. It increases awareness of the huge number of families affected by emotional complications in pregnancy and postpartum . Screening and identifying those who are suffering is a critical first step. 

However, there's an immense gap between screening and treatment. Postpartum women--particularly low-income mothers and mothers of color--obtain treatment for postpartum mood and anxiety disorders at abysmally low rates, even after they've been positively screened. 

Why?

• stigma, fear of judgment
• lack of or inadequate health insurance, high copays, high deductibles
• few trained perinatal providers in many areas
• time constraints and difficulty securing childcare 
• experiences of discrimination within the medical system

Efforts like the community health center pilot program in Massachusetts that embeds comprehensive postpartum support within community health centers both increase screening rates and address these barriers to treatment. More innovative community-based programs are needed to bridge the gap between screening and treatment for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. 

There's also a little fact in the original research about the oxytocin receptor that's interesting. The study found that there was no connection between the oxytocin receptor and risk for PPD in women who had depression during pregnancy - the link was only in women who were not depressed prenatally. Not only does depression in pregnancy increase the risk for postpartum depression, but untreated prenatal depression is also a risk factor for unfavorable pregnancy outcomes including low-birth weights and pre-term births. So, we still need to screen all pregnant women AND treat those who are depressed. 

Other tidbits

The Massachusetts legislature overturned the Governor's veto of funding for the pilot program I mentioned above.  I've been asking many of you in Massachusetts to contact your legislators about this recently, so thank you for all your advocacy!

Meanwhile, Congresswoman Katherine Clark and Congressman Ryan Costello introduced legislation, the Bringing Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows Act, to increase and improve screening AND treatment for women with postpartum depression through grants to the states to develop new programs. 

What's caught your eye in the news lately related  to pregnancy or postpartum emotional complications?