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Objective The objective of the present study was to compare neonatal outcomes including gestational age, birth weight and hospitalization of newborns of pregnant women with treated with antidepressants and untreated panic disorder. Methods The study sample included 146 pregnant women (44 patients with panic disorder treated with antidepressants, 52 patients with untreated panic disorder, and 50 healthy controls). Panic disorder was diagnosed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Results The highest proportions of preterm birth (28.8%), low birth weight (34.6%) and requirement of neonatal care (25.0%) were observed in infants of untreated patients. Pharmacotherapy group and control subjects had similar neonatal outcomes. Compared with infants of healthy subjects and the pharmacotherapy group, infants of untreated patients had significantly lower birth weight and gestational age at delivery. In addition, newborns of untreated patients had higher rate of hospitalization at the neonatal care unit. Conclusion Our results suggest that treatment with pharmacotherapy of panic disorder during pregnancy may have beneficial effects on the risk of negative neonatal outcomes due to maternal panic disorder in the infants.

Objective: The principal aims of this study were to examine the current prevalence rate, clinical characteristics, and related factors of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in pregnant women during the third trimester of pregnancy. Method: The study data were gathered from 434 consecutive women in the third trimester of pregnancy who presented to the obstetric outpatient clinics of 2 university research centers and from 58 consecutive nonpregnant women with diagnosed with OCD who presented to the psychiatric outpatient clinics of the same centers. Obsessive-compulsive disorder was diagnosed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale was used to determine the severity and types of obsessions and compulsions. Results: The prevalence rate of OCD was found to be 3.5% among the women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Two (0.5%) women reported that OCD developed during the second trimester (16th and 24th gestational weeks) of pregnancy. The most common obsessions were contamination (80.0%) and symmetry/exactness (60.0%), whereas the most common compulsions were cleaning/washing (86.7%) and checking (60.0%). Women with pregnancy-onset OCD and some women with previous diagnoses of OCD had obsessions and compulsions with themes focused on the fetus or newborn. Pregnant women with OCD had higher frequencies of family history of OCD compared with women without this disorder. Age, educational level, employment status, number of gestations and live births, history of abortion, frequency of primigravida, and the existence of gestational complications were unrelated to OCD in the pregnant women. Pregnant and nonpregnant women with OCD had similar characteristics of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Conclusion: Our study suggests that OCD is present relatively frequently among pregnant women during the third trimester of pregnancy, and it has similar clinical features during gestation and nongestation.

Objective The aim of the current study was to prospectively examine a course of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during the early postpartum period. Method The study data were collected from 16 pregnant women with a diagnosis of OCD according to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I). Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms were assessed by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) before and after childbirth. Psychopharmacologic or psychotherapeutic treatments were not administered over the study period. Results Scores of the mean Y-BOCS-total and Y-BOCS-obsession were significantly reduced from the basal levels to 6 weeks postnatally. No significant difference was found in terms of Y-BOCS-compulsion between 2 interviews. During the study period, whereas the Y-BOCS-total scores were decreased by at least 25% in 8 (50.0%) of 16 patients, only 1 (6.2%) of 16 patients experienced at least a 25% increase in the same scores. Conclusion The results from a small patient group suggest that some patients may experience a marked improvement in preexisting OCD symptoms after childbirth.

Objectives The objective of the study was to investigate the incidence rate of postpartum-onset major depression (PPMD) and to examine associated sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric factors, and personality disorders. Method The study data were obtained from 302 women who delivered at a child and maternity hospital. We interviewed the new mothers on the first day of their childbirth and at 6 weeks postpartum. Major depression and axis II diagnoses were determined by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition , and the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Third Edition , Personality Disorders, respectively. Results Nineteen (6.3%) women had new-onset major depression during 6 weeks postpartum. Postpartum-onset major depression was unrelated to age, educational level, employment status, planned or unplanned pregnancy, history of abortion and gestational complications, term of delivery, type of delivery, sex of the baby, and mother's breast-feeding. Frequency of primiparity and of avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders was higher in women with PPMD than that in women without PPMD. As a result of logistic regression analysis, the independent predictor of PPMD was the presence of avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders. Conclusion Our results suggest that childbearing women with avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders have increased risk of new-onset major depression during the postpartum period.