Pregnancy Cannot Protect Women From Depression, Experts Say
10 Percent of Women Experience Serious Depression in PregnancyNEW YORK, JUNE 2, 2005 – Although most people think of pregnancy as a joyful time, for some women pregnancy can bring a new occurrence or a recurrence of serious depression. "A growing body of literature suggests that pregnancy does not protect women against depression," said Lee S. Cohen, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry Clinical Research Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He said it is estimated that 10 percent of pregnant women in the United States suffer from depression, some of it undiagnosed. Dr. Cohen spoke today at a March of Dimes National Communications Advisory luncheon here. Diagnosis of depression in pregnancy can be difficult because symptoms such as fatigue, changes in sleep patterns, and appetite changes are normal in pregnant women. A careful evaluation must be made and careful thought given to intervention, Dr. Cohen said. The benefits and risks for both mother and baby of pharmacologic or nonpharmacologic treatments must be considered. "We urge doctors to be vigilant for signs of depression in their pregnant patients," said Dr. Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes. "We also urge drug manufacturers to conduct more post-marketing surveillance of their anti-depression drugs so that physicians and patients can have better safety data available to them for making treatment decisions." For more information, go to these articles on the March of Dimes Web site:
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