Image zoom Credit: Illustration: Caitlin-Marie Miner Ong
This past April, only a few weeks postpartum, my son s pediatrician handed me a print out of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The screening tool, developed in Scotland in 1987, is 10 questions long and used around the world to detect a variety of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) such as postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety.
The form s prompts range from I have been able to laugh and see the funny side of things to The thought of harming myself has occurred to me. Each answer is assigned a numerical value. The higher the score, the more likely the respondent is suffering from a PMAD.
December 17, 2020
Women who discontinued stimulant medication use during pregnancy experienced a significant increase in postnatal depression despite not changing their antidepressant medication, as well as significant impairment in family functioning. These findings, published in the
Journal of Attention Disorders
1, come from the first study to characterize the course of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) during pregnancy, including treatment decisions and associated maternal outcomes. It suggests that medical professionals should consider overall functioning and mental health when offering ADHD treatment guidance to expectant mothers.
Twenty-five women with ADHD ages 18-45 were studied at