Fifteen percent of women worldwide experience depression in the perinatal period. Suicide is now one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in developed countries. Internationally, many healthcare systems screen post-natal women for depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation to facilitate early assessment and intervention. To our knowledge, no Irish data exists on the prevalence of suicidal ideation in this cohort.

To evaluate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in post-natal women attending a large Dublin maternity hospital.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Women were randomly selected by delivery date over a 6 month period. Demographic and medical information was collected from their booking visit and discharge summary data. EPDS results at discharge post-partum were examined.

Data was collected on 643 women. Post-partum, 19 women (3.4%) had experienced suicidal ideation in the previous 7 days. Just over half of these women also had high EPDS scores (>12). Overall, 29 women (5.2%) screened positive for depression (EPDS score > 12).

The rate of suicidal ideation is in line with the published international data and emphasises the need for all clinicians to inquire about such thoughts. Training of midwifery and obstetric staff is required. Maternity units should have a policy on the management of suicidal ideation and risk. The prevalence of depressive symptoms post-partum was comparatively low in our study. This could suggest that antenatal screening and early intervention, which are integral parts of the perinatal mental health service, are effective. However, due to limitations of the study, it could also reflect an under-representation of depressive symptom burden in this cohort.

No significant relationships.

1. (1) To understand how specific phobia of vomiting (SPOV) affects women in early parenthood.

2. (2) To know how to target and update traumatic early memories of vomiting with imagery rescripting.

3. (3) To know how to design and carry out effective behavioural experiments for perinatal SPOV.

4. (4) To understand how to take mother, baby, and the mother–infant relationship into account in SPOV treatment.

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder without intellectual disabilities (High Functioning ASD, HF-ASD) present atypical sensory sensitivity, due to the hyper-reactivity to sensory inputs.

To retrospectively evaluate the sensory sensitivity in a sample of mothers with HF-ASD during pregnancy (pre-partum), delivery and childbirth (peri-partum) and during the three months after delivery (post-partum).

19 HF-ASD and 13 neurotypical (NT) mothers were asked to complete an ad-hoc questionnaire designed for the study, named Maternity Questionnaire, assessing sensory perception during pre-, peri- and post-partum. Moreover, they underwent the following assessment: the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the Empathy Quotient (EQ), the Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R), the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPSD), the Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ) and the Post Partum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ).

At the Maternity Questionnaire, HF-ASD mothers showed higher sensitivity scores than NT mothers overall. Moreover, HF-ASD mothers presented lower sensitivity during the peri-partum, compared to pre- and post- partum periods, while NT mothers showed a linear decrease from pre- to post- partum. The two groups significantly differed at the AQ, the EQ, the RAADS-R, the SPQ and Factor 3 of the PBQ. Sensitivity during pre- and post-partum positively correlated with EPDS scores.

Mothers with HFA tend to experience pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period differently from neurotypical mothers, particularly in terms of hypersensitivity, although during the peri-partum the hypersensitivity decreases. Further studies investigating these aspects might give fundamental hints to provide proper help to HF-ASD mothers during pregnancy and motherhood overall.

No significant relationships.

A Canadian Stroke Best Practices consensus statement on Acute Stroke Management during pregnancy was published in 2018. The state of individual practice, however, is unknown.

A survey on treatment of acute stroke in pregnant and post-partum women was distributed via the Canadian Stroke Consortium email list. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and proportions) were calculated for demographic and response variables and free-text responses were coded for thematic content.

Thirty-five participants completed the survey; 12 had experience with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV-tPA), endovascular therapy (EVT), or both in pregnant patients. None had treatment-related complications. The majority (92%) of those who had not yet encountered the issue in practice expressed some reservation about giving IV-tPA to an otherwise eligible pregnant woman. In a theoretical scenario where an otherwise eligible pregnant woman was a candidate for both IV-tPA and EVT, 58% of respondents would have opted for EVT alone. Amongst this cohort comprised mainly of stroke sub-specialists, more than a third had treated pregnant patients with reperfusion therapy.

The reported safety experience with both IV-tPA and EVT was reassuring. Overall, there was a hesitancy towards use of IV-tPA in pregnancy that is discordant with the recent consensus statement. Possible barriers to uptake identified through thematic analysis were concerns regarding risks of bleeding in the pregnant patient, presence of EVT as a perceived alternative, and the need for express consent from the patient and family.

La dépression du post-partum (DPP) est une pathologie multifactorielle survenant chez 13 à 15 % des femmes dans l’année suivant l’accouchement . Les évènements de vie stressants ont été identifiés comme facteur de risque. Parallèlement, le recours aux traitements pour infertilité ne cesse de croître . Actuellement en France, 1 naissance sur 40 est issue de la procréation médicalement assistée (PMA). Lors de la procédure, le parcours peut être une source de stress chez la femme . Nous avons émis l’hypothèse que le risque de symptômes dépressifs et/ou DPP après aide médicale à la conception pourrait être majoré.

Nous avons réalisé une revue de la littérature des études comparant la survenue de symptômes dépressifs dans le post-partum et/ou DPP entre traitement pour infertilité et grossesse spontanée à partir des bases de données Pubmed, ISI Web of Knowledge et PsycINFO jusqu’en décembre 2014. Nous avons ensuite effectué une méta-analyse des données disponibles sur DPP et aide à la conception, et une méta-analyse secondaire se focalisant sur la PMA (logiciel RevMan5).

Notre revue de la littérature, prenant en compte 18 études, ne met pas en évidence de risque majoré de symptômes dépressifs et/ou de DPP après traitement pour infertilité. Notre méta-analyse sur la DPP, prenant en compte 8 études (n = 2451), ne montre pas de différence significative entre aide médicale à la conception et grossesse spontanée (OR = 0,93 [0,67–1,31], z = 0,40, p = 0,69), sans hétérogénéité entre les études. La méta-analyse secondaire concernant les PMA, sur 6 études (n = 1773), ne retrouve également pas d’association (OR = 1,04 [0,71–1,52], z = 0,18, p = 0,86).

Notre étude ne montre pas de risque majoré de DPP après aide médicale à la conception. D’autres études sont nécessaires afin de mieux connaître les spécificités des DPP après traitement pour infertilité (selon la technique utilisée, l’origine ou la nature de l’infertilité).

Using data from a prospective birth cohort, we aimed to test for an association between exposure to tobacco smoke in utero or during early development and the experience of hypomania assessed in young adulthood.

We used data on 2957 participants from a large birth cohort (Avon longitudinal study of parents and children [ALSPAC]). The primary outcome of interest was hypomania, and the secondary outcome was “hypomania plus previous psychotic experiences (PE)”. Maternally-reported smoking during pregnancy, paternal smoking and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in childhood were the exposures of interest. Multivariable logistic regression was used and estimates of association were adjusted for socio-economic, lifestyle and obstetric factors.

There was weak evidence of an association between exposure to maternal smoking in utero and lifetime hypomania. However, there was a strong association of maternal smoking during pregnancy within the sub-group of individuals with hypomania who had also experienced psychotic symptoms (OR = 3.45; 95% CI: 1.49–7.98; P = 0.004). There was no association between paternal smoking, or exposure to ETS during childhood, and hypomania outcomes.

Exposure to smoking in utero may be a risk factor for more severe forms of psychopathology on the mood-psychosis spectrum, rather than DSM-defined bipolar disorder.