Reproductive Psychiatry

Programs that focus on the mental health needs of women who have psychiatric conditions such as anxiety or depression specifically related to their reproductive cycle. Reproductive psychiatry programs provide multidisciplinary care including evaluation, treatment and medication monitoring for women at every stage from preconception through pregnancy, postpartum and early parenting as well as emotional support for issues such as coping with the stresses of infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, grief, high-risk pregnancies and other major adjustment difficulties. They may also provide preconception counseling for psychiatric patients who have a current challenge or disorder and are thinking about becoming pregnant, to help them build confidence and understand ways to manage the impact of their illness while pregnant or breastfeeding, and may work with women identified as vulnerable, to forestall potential issues such as postpartum depression before they arise.