First-time fathers appear to experience a loss of cortical volume following the birth of their child, new research suggests. Investigators associated with the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, Spain, and the University of Southern California compared MRIs of the brains of 40 new fathers (half located in the United States and the … Read more
Cee Elliot is afraid of pregnancy. The 29-year-old retail manager in Connecticut said she has felt that way since puberty, when she “finally understood” pregnancy and reproduction. Always squeamish around babies and pregnant people, she said, as she she learned about complications birth can cause, the idea of carrying a child herself became repulsive. Later, … Read more
Transgender people who medically detransition — those who stop or switch gender-affirming hormone therapy or who undergo a reversal of a surgical reconstruction — report feeling stigmatized by clinicians and receiving inadequate professional support, researchers have found. As a result, such patients often avoid healthcare at the time they stop undergoing medical interventions, and many … Read more
Physicians have screened new and expectant mothers for perinatal depression for years. But what about fathers? A new systematic review and meta-analysis suggests it’s time for healthcare providers to ask both parents about any mental health symptoms before and after their baby is born. Dr Kara Smythe “We are screening most mothers for signs of … Read more
Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Infants exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in utero are at increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders in the first year of life, new research suggests. But whether it is exposure to the pandemic or maternal exposure to the virus itself that may harm early … Read more
Mothers with previous subfertility have increased risk for postpartum mental illness, compared with mothers who conceived spontaneously, according to a new study. In a population-based cohort study that examined almost 800,000 births, the adjusted relative risk (RR) for postpartum mental illness was 1.14 in women with subfertility, compared with women without reproductive assistance. The magnitude … Read more
One in four new mothers who are physicians report experiencing postpartum depression, a rate twice that of the general population, according to new survey findings presented at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) 2022 Annual Meeting. The survey results weren’t all grim. More than three fourths (78%) of new mothers reported meeting their … Read more
Approximately 7% of youth who chose gender identity social transition in early childhood had retransitioned 5 years later, based on data from 317 individuals. “Increasing numbers of children are socially transitioning to live in line with their gender identity, rather than the gender assumed by their sex at birth—a process that typically changing involves a … Read more
Long-term cannabis use is linked to hippocampal atrophy and poorer cognitive function in midlife — known risk factors for dementia. A large prospective, longitudinal study showed long-term cannabis users had an intelligence quotient (IQ) decline from age 18 to midlife (mean 5.5 IQ points), poorer learning and processing speed compared to childhood, and self-reported memory … Read more
Owning an outdoor cat as a child is associated with an increased risk of psychotic experiences in adulthood — but only in males, new research suggests. Investigators found male children who owned cats that went outside had a small, but significantly increased, risk of psychotic experiences in adulthood vs their counterparts who had no cat … Read more