Perinatal and Postpartum Mood Disorders: Perspectives and Treatment Guide for the Health Care Practitioner

by Susan Dowd Stone MSW, LCSW (Editor), Alexis E. Menken PhD (Editor)

Overview

"As a psychotherapist and educator of future mental health practitioners, I believe this work fills an important gap in reference books for professionals who care for childbearing women. Since the volume provides invaluable neurobiological research on depression and anxiety, I recommend this work to all health and mental health professionals."--Illness, Crisis and Loss

Over the past three years, pregnancy related mood disorders have become the focus of health care advocates and legislators alike with subsequent reflection in nationwide media. Statistics on the prevalence of perinatal mood disorders suggest that up to 20% of women experience diagnosable pregnancy related mood disorders. The growing recognition of these common disorders, coupled with an increasing knowledge base about the dire consequences of untreated maternal depression, has propelled this issue to the fore of national public health priorities.

This increasing awareness has also resulted in recent legislative and healthcare initiatives to screen, assess, and treat such disorders. On April 13, 2006, Governor Jon S. Corzine (D -NJ) signed a law requiring all new mothers to be educated and screened for postpartum depression. This law is the first of its kind in the country, but many states and federal advocates are proposing similar laws. The motivation for states and the federal government to adopt education and screening program is high and may soon be a federal mandate. But a major barrier to successful implementation of such programs is the lack of available resources to train healthcare professionals in this specialty.

This book offers a major resource for healthcare professionals, mental health professionals, and medical, nursing, psychology, and social work students who will be confronting this problem in their practices. The contributions, by renowned experts, fill a glaring gap in the knowledge professionals need in order to successfully manage maternal mental health.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826101174
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	05/12/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Susan Dowd Stone, MSW, LCSW, is president of Postpartum Support International. She is a NJHSS Certified Perinatal Mood Disorders Instructor and Adjunct Lecturer at New York University's Silver Graduate School of Social Work.

Alexis E. Menken, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist licensed in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Dr. Menken developed a specialty in Maternal Mental Health and is the co-founder of The Pregnancy and Postpartum Resource Center at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in the department of Behavioral Medicine. She is an instructor in Clinical Psychology in the department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and an Assistant Professional Psychologist at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Dr. Menken serves Postpartum Support International as a current board member, the public relations chair, and she is their coordinator for New Jersey. Dr. Menken has a private practice in Montclair, New Jersey, where she treats women with disorders related to reproductive mental health.

Read an Excerpt

chapter

Table of Contents

"

Contributors
Foreword, Ian Brockington, PhD, FRCPsych
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Section I: The Importance of Maternal Mental Health

1. The Effects of Maternal Stress, Anxiety and Depression During Pregnancy on the Neurodevelopment of the Child, Vivette Glover, Kristin Bergman, and Thomas G. O'Connor
2. Maternal Attachment and Bonding Disorders, Ian Brockington
3. Effects of Maternal Postpartum Depression on the Infant and Older Siblings, Julia Chase-Brand
4. Perinatal Mood Disorders: An Introduction, Shaila Misri and Karen Joe

Section II: Perspectives on Risk Factors, Screening, and Diagnosis

5. Diagnosis and Screening of Perinatal Mood Disorders, Linda Klempner
6. Omega-3s, Exercise, and St. John's Wort: Three Complementary and Alternative Treatments for Postpartum Depression, Kathleen Kendall-Tackett
7. Stress System Dysregulation in Perinatal Mood Disorders, Sandra N. Jolley and Tricia Spach
8. Infertility: Challenges and Complications in Pregnancy and Postpartum, Andrea Mechanick Braverman

Section III: Professional Perspectives

9. Perinatal Mood Disorders: An Obstetrician's Perspective, Alexandra C. Spadola
10. The Pediatrician's Role in Identifying Postpartum Mood Disorders, Mary Ann LoFrumento
11. The Nurses' Vantage Point, Cheryl Tatano Beck
12. Mothers Who Suffer from Postpartum Illnesses and the Pitfalls of the Criminal Justice System, George Parnham

Section IV: Treatment Options for Perinatal Mood Disorders

13. To Medicate or Not: The Dilemma of Pregnancy and Psychiatric Illness, Catherine Birndorf and Alexandra Sacks
14. Comorbid Presentations in Perinatal Mental Health: Dialectical Behavior Therapy as a Treatment Model, Susan Dowd Stone
15. Treating Antepartum Depression: Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Margaret Spinelli
16. A Psychodynamic Approach to Treatment for Postpartum Depression, Alexis E. Menken
17. Health Literacy and Maternal Empowerment, Lisa Bernstein and Eve Weiss
18. The Role of Social Support in Prevention, Intervention and Treatment of Perinatal Mood Disorders, Jane Israel Honikman

Index"

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Susan Dowd Stone and Alexis Menken have assembled an impressive team of experts in perinatal mental health who are committed to educating their colleagues about the diagnosis and treatment of perinatal depression. Topics include the consequences of untreated anxiety and depression for the baby, the mother, and the family, guidelines for screening, how to determine the best treatment options for individual patients (including psychotherapy and medications), and the role of the peer-support movement in fostering recovery. This book provides a wealth of clinically useful information that will serve as an excellent foundation for Psychiatrists, Obstetricians, Family Physicians, Nurses, Psychologists, Social Workers, and educated consumers.

—Shari I. Lusskin, MD, Director of Reproductive Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics and Gynecology, New York University School of Medicine

With the publication of Perinatal and Postpartum Mood Disorders: Perspective and Treatment Guide for the Healthcare Professional, Stone & Menken offer professionals and students pursuing this specialty a uniquely comprehensive overview of the issue from the perspective of many renown leaders in women’s reproductive mental health. Experts from research, medicine, treatment and advocacy offer their experienced views on evaluation, treatment and interventive approaches when confronting affective disorders in pregnancy and the postpartum. Inclusion of this text provides a substantial and much needed addition to professional educational curriculums in medicine, psychiatry, social work, psychology and advocacy. Health care professionals currently working with women during their reproductive years will find the breadth and depth of its contents to be a valuable reference and resource tool when considering options for their clients and families.

—Manuel Alvarez, M.D., Chairman, Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Science, Hackensack University Medical Center

Perspectives on Perinatal Mood Disorders is an excellent, welcomed addition to this important field of maternal mental health. Written by some of the field's most renowned experts, each piece of the book lends a unique view, resulting in a well-rounded picture of these disorders and the approaches which heal them.

—Shoshana Bennet, PhD, former president of Postpartum Support International