NEWS

BRMC Hosts Conference: The Crisis of Depression and Postpartum Depression in New Jersey

March 29, 2005

Bergen Regional Medical Center, L.P. in conjunction with the Northern NJ Maternal/Child Health Consortium hosted the conference, “Depression through a Woman’s Life Cycle: A Focus on the Postpartum Period,” on March 31, 2005 at the Atrium Country Club in West Orange.

The conference allotted healthcare professionals, legislators and concerned individuals with a forum to discuss women’s mental health issues including postpartum depression. Women are twice as likely as men to experience depression and one in ten women experience postpartum depression. Many more cases either go undiagnosed or unreported due to the stigma associated with depression.

Guest speakers included:

Cheryl Tatano Beck, DnSc, CNM, FAAN
World-renowned for having developed the first postpartum screening scale, Dr. Beck has conducted extensive research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after childbirth. She received international recognition for her work on postpartum mood disorders.

Margaret Spinelli, MD
Dr. Spinelli has both written and contributed her expertise to books dealing with the study of Postpartum Depression and Infanticide. She has testified in criminal cases of mentally ill mothers and continues to work with lawyers at Fordham on an amicus brief in defense of Andrea Yates. She was recently awarded a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to provide direct care to depressed women in obstetrical units in New York City helping to aid the study of factors contributing to their condition.

Jeanne Watson Driscoll, PhD, APRN, BC
Dr. Driscoll operates a private psychotherapy practice that specializes in treating mood and/or anxiety disorders in women through childbearing and reproductive years. She has authored several books related to Postpartum Depression and made several television appearances to discuss these topics.

Diana Dell, MD, FACOG
Currently the Director of the Maternal Wellness Program and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University Medical Center, Dr. Dell is a leader in clinical research relating to premenstrual syndrome, mood disorders, perimenopause, and menopause.