January 30, 2024
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in BMC Public Health looked at married women’s decisions to delay childbearing, as well as loneliness, severe psychological distress, and suicidal ideation under crisis during the pandemic. “This study intended to find out how pregnancy decisions affect the well-being of women,” study author Midori Matsushima told us. “We used the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment that affected the population as a whole.”
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December 19, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in PubMed looked at the case for screening and evidence-based intervention in pregnant Black people to detect depression, anxiety, and stress. “As part of a larger randomized clinical trial to determine whether a newly created cognitive-behavioral skills building intervention is effective in improving the mental health of pregnant people of color, we screened Black pregnant women for anxiety, depression, and stress,” study author Susan Gennaro RN, PhD, FAAN told us.
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November 30, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
Women experience a large variation in perceptions of their own body during pregnancy.
Research published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth found that average levels of body image dissatisfaction was similar in pregnant and non-pregnant, but there were significant differences between individuals.
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May 9, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders looked at the social and cognitive vulnerability to COVID-19-related stress in pregnancy. “We were interested to find out whether being pregnant during the pandemic was associated with postpartum mental wellbeing of the mothers and their babies,” study author Susanne Schweizer told us. “In particular, we were interested whether the experiencing stress related to the pandemic (including, stressors such as economic and health-related worries) would be associated with more postpartum depression and anxiety in the mothers and poorer affect in the children.”
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March 21, 2023
by Patricia Tomasi
March is traumatic brain injury (TBI) awareness month.
Armenian-American triathlete Kristin Abello, was struck by a car in 2002, while on a training run in Houston in preparation for a marathon. As a result, she sustained a TBI and other physical traumas. The initial consensus was that she wasn’t going to survive, but she did and the road to recovery was extremely difficult, including her choice to carry a high risk pregnancy. She’s now giving back, as an advocate, philanthropist and author on a mission to help others with TBI.
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September 30, 2022
by Elizabeth Pratt
50% of people who are pregnant or postpartum report feeling dissatisfied with their bodies.
A small survey of 161 women aged between 18 and 45 who were either pregnant or postpartum found that more than half were unhappy with how they looked either during or following pregnancy.
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June 26, 2021
by Elizabeth Pratt
Women at increased risk of postpartum psychosis show altered connectivity in networks of the brain responsible for planning, organisation and the completion of short and long-term tasks. Currently, there are no biological markers that identify who will develop postpartum psychosis. But researchers from King’s College London have identified altered connectivity in the brain networks of women with postpartum psychosis, which could pave the way for better identifying women at risk of the condition.
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December 22, 2020
by Patricia Tomasi
Vitamin D is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in the US and around the world. It can be challenging to get adequate Vitamin D from the diet, and not everyone produces enough Vitamin D in their skin to make up for this gap. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition looked at pregnancy, nutrition, and Vitamin D.
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November 3, 2020
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry looked at maternal prenatal body mass index (BMI) and human fetal brain development. “Given knowledge that the physical well-being of a mother during pregnancy is important for the long-term brain health of her child, we sought to discover whether and how maternal body mass index may relate brain development in the womb,” senior study author, Dr. Moriah E. Thomason told us.
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September 8, 2020
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry looked at maternal prenatal body mass index (BMI) and human fetal brain development. “Given knowledge that the physical well-being of a mother during pregnancy is important for the long-term brain health of her child, we sought to discover whether and how maternal BMI may relate brain development in the womb,” study author Moriah E. Thomason told us.
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