Resources we provide for Healthcare professionals
PPMIS provides up-to-date, evidence based and peer-reviewed information on the use of psychotropic medicines in the peri and post natal period. This website contains medicine profiles, summaries of individual psychotropic medicines along with articles on congenital malformation, pregnancy and neonatal outcomes and postnatal and breastfeeding information; patient medicine information fact sheets and links to other resources.
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ABDS and PPMIS meeting ‘Mental Health and Pregnancy’
An ABDS and PPMIS meeting “Mental Health and Pregnancy” was held at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne in March 2012. The meeting focussed on mental health medicines used during the perinatal period and provided an opportunity for health professionals to share expertise and exchange ideas.
New medicine profiles and fact sheets now available
The next upload has just been completed for two new medicine profiles (diazepam and haloperidol) and three fact sheets (lamotrigine, risperidone and valproate). Please feel free to contact us for any further information, and please remember to fill in the online survey about our service. Your feedback will be very much appreciated.
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The National Perinatal Depression Initiative
Research indicates that each year around one in ten Australian women experience depression during pregnancy and almost one in five experience depression in the weeks and months after giving birth. If left untreated, this can have a negative impact on new mothers, their babies, families and friends, including relationship problems and difficulties bonding with children. Many women who experience perinatal depression are not identified and so do not receive adequate support, placing them at risk of more serious problems. (from the framework document for the National Perinatal Depression Initiative 2008–2013).
PPMIS at the Royal Women’s Hospital is funded by Department of Health (DoH) as part of Victoria’s response to the National Perinatal Depression Initiative.
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Important Points to Consider Before Prescribing
Weighing up whether or not to prescribe psychotropic medication for your pregnant or breastfeeding patient is not a straightforward decision. It can be fraught with concern and uncertainty around potential harmful medication effects on the pregnancy, fetus and infant; yet this must be balanced against the increasingly convincing evidence for the deleterious consequences of untreated maternal mental illness. Each decision must be tailored to the individual patient and, where possible, include the father of the pregnancy in the decision-making.
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