Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Analysis of Perinatal Women Attending a Mother and Baby Unit Taking Sodium Valproate or Lithium with a Diagnosis of Bipolar Affective Disorder

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Psychiatric Quarterly Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study we describe the management of postnatal women with a bipolar disorder diagnosis who were prescribed either lithium or sodium valproate. There was a 38.2% (13 out of 34) relapse rate in patients discharged on lithium, compared to 46.7% (14 out of 30) relapse in patients discharged with valproate. Only 20 women (29.9%) continued to breastfeed at discharge. There were 32 (47.8%) who ceased breastfeeding during their MBU admission and 23 (34.3%) of whom ceased due to initiation of lithium therapy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. The Royal Women's Hospital. Lithium. In: Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Medicines Guide [Internet]. Parkville (Victoria): The Royal Women's Hospital; 2017 [cited 2018 Sept 8]. Available from: https://thewomenspbmg.org.au/

  2. Viguera A, Newport J, Ritchie J, et al. Lithium in breast Milk and nursing infants: clinical implications. Am J Psychiatr. 2007;164(2):342–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Gallbally M, Bergnik V, Vigod S, et al. Breastfeeding and lithium: is breast always best? Lancet Psychiatry [Internet]. 2018;5(7):534–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Poels E, Bijma H, Galbally M, et al. Lithium during pregnancy and after delivery: a review. Int J Bipolar Disord. [internet]. 2018;6(26). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345.018.0135.7.

  5. Frayne J, Nguyen T, Mok T, Hauck Y, Liira H. Lithium exposure during pregnancy: outcomes for women who attended a specialist antenatal clinic. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2018;39(3):211–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Hale T. Lithium. In: Medications & Mothers’ Milk online internet New York: springer publishing company; 2019 cited 2019 Sept 18. Available from https://medsmilk.com/

  7. Wisner K, Hanusa B, Peindl K, Perel JM. Prevention of postpartum episodes in women with bipolar disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2004;56(8):592–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Newmark R, Bogen D, Wisner K, et al. Risk-benefit assessment of infant exposure to lithium through breast milk: a systematic review of the literature. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2019.1586657.

  9. Doyle K, Heron J, Berrisford G, Whitmore J, Jones L, et al. The management of bipolar disorder in the perinatal period and risk factors for postpartum relapse. Eur Psychiatry. 2012;27(8):563–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Wesseloo R, Kamperma AM, Munk-Olsen T, Pop V, Kushner S, et al. Risk of postpartum relapse in bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Psychiatry. 2016;173(2):117–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Alloy LB, Abramson LY, Urosevic S, Walshaw PD, Nusslock R, Neeren AM. The psychosocial context of bipolar disorder: environmental, cognitive, and developmental risk factors. Clin Psychol Rev. 2005;25(8):1043–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge that the manuscript is an original work and has been submitted solely to Psychiatric Quarterly.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Pharmacy Department, King Edward Memorial Hospital, 374, Bagot Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia

    Tamara Lebedevs, Malorie Gan & Stephanie W. K Teoh

  2. Psychological Medicine-Mother and Baby Unit, King Edward Memorial Hospital, 374, Bagot Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia

    Philippa Brown

Authors
  1. Tamara Lebedevs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Malorie Gan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stephanie W. K Teoh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Philippa Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie W. K Teoh.

Ethics declarations

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

We have no conflict of interest to declare.

Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals

This is a retrospective audit of patients who attended a hospital, clinical care involved in these patients were provided with standard care and treatment, which were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

This is a retrospective audit of patients who attended a hospital, clinical care involved in these patients were provided with standard care and treatment, and for this type of study formal consent is not required.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lebedevs, T., Gan, M., Teoh, S.W.K. et al. Analysis of Perinatal Women Attending a Mother and Baby Unit Taking Sodium Valproate or Lithium with a Diagnosis of Bipolar Affective Disorder. Psychiatr Q 91, 695–701 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09729-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09729-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation