Postnatal Depression Linked to Depression in Offspring Following Childbirth

A study recently performed by Lynne Murray and her colleagues was published in the May 2011 issue of JAACAP, the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and found that maternal depression and the chances of your child developing it may begin in infancy.

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Women with Anorexia Nervosa More Likely to Have Unwanted Pregnancies

A new study has found that women with anorexia nervosa are more likely to have unplanned pregnancies and induced abortions than women who don’t have the eating disorder. The results suggest that this could be partly due to the fact that many women with anorexia mistakenly believe that they can’t get pregnant because they may experience irregular periods or may not menstruate at all.

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Methamphetamine Use during Pregnancy Dramatically Increases Risk to Baby

Methamphetamine abuse has become the most common reason for women to seek drug counseling or treatment while pregnant. A recent study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that not only had treatment facilities across the U.S. seen the highest number of pregnant teenage admissions in a decade, but the largest shift in the type of substance abuse being treated was caused by methamphetamine use. Pregnant teenage admissions for methamphetamine abuse had more than quadrupled from 4.3% of admissions in 1992 to 18.8% in 2007. Despite the higher percentage of pregnant meth abusers in rehabilitation, an even greater number of female meth abusers do not seek treatment. Unfortunately, some maintain their habit even after becoming pregnant.

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Study Finds Danish Children at Risk from Psychotropic Medications

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, have found that Danish children are at a high risk of experiencing adverse reactions to psychotropic medications. The study, published in the journal BMC Research, found that more than half of the 429 adverse reactions in Danish children under 17 between 1998 and 2007 were serious and several were birth defects, which suggests that pregnant women should be advised against taking psychotropic medications.

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Psychotropic Drugs Have Potential to Cause Birth Defects

Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Studies at University of Copenhagen (UC) have found that children of pregnant women who use psychotropic medications are at an increase risk of birth defects. UC Professors Lise Aagaard and Ebba Hansen’s study investigating the adverse drug reactions of psychotropic medications on children 17 years and younger over a ten-year period is available in the open access publication BMC Research Notes (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/3/176/abstract).

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Depression in Pregnancy Linked to Children’s Antisocial and Violent Behavior

Children from urban areas whose mothers suffered from depression during pregnancy are more likely than others to show antisocial and violent behavior later in life. Furthermore, women who are aggressive and disruptive in their own teen years are more likely to become depressed in pregnancy, so that the mothers’ history predicts their own children’s antisocial behavior. These are the conclusions of a new longitudinal study conducted by researchers at Cardiff University, King’s College London, and the University of Bristol. The research appears in the January/February 2010 issue of the journal Child Development.

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Exposure to Lead and Tobacco Smoke Raises Risk of ADHD

Children exposed to tobacco smoke prenatally or exposed to lead during childhood are at a particularly high risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to new research from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

The study estimates that up to 35 percent of ADHD cases in children between the ages of 8 and 15 could be reduced by eliminating both of these environmental exposures. This could translate to 800,000 children.

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Eating Licorice While Pregnant May Affect Child’s IQ and Behavior

A study has shown that expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of licorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child’s intelligence and behavior.

The  study of eight-year-old children whose mothers ate large amounts of licorice when pregnant found that they did not perform as well as other youngsters on cognitive tests.

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Pre-Natal Exposure to Antidepressants Can Influence Newborn’s Health

A new report shows that exposure to a certain class of antidepressant medications during pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, a low five-minute Apgar score (a measure of overall health of the baby), and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.

The study, published in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, reports that more than one in ten pregnant women are estimated to have depression, comparable in frequency and severity to postpartum depression. “Depression, antidepressants, and lifestyle factors associated with depression may influence pregnancy outcomes and newborn health,” the authors write.

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Smoking During Pregnancy Puts Children at Risk of Psychotic Symptoms

Mothers who smoke during pregnancy put their children at greater risk of developing psychotic symptoms in their teenage years.

Science Daily reports that researchers from Cardiff, Bristol, Nottingham, and Warwick Universities studied 6,356 12-year-olds from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. All the children completed an interview for psychotic-like symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions.

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