Perinatal and Postpartum Mood Disorders

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.

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.