Pregnancy and becoming a new parent can bring profound joy, but it also triggers significant physiological and hormonal changes that can impact mental health in ways you may not expect. During pregnancy, gray matter in the brain shrinks and hormonal fluctuations affect mood, cognition, and stress response. For many women, distinguishing between normal adjustments to a significant life transition and clinical depression can be difficult when you’re dealing with sleep deprivation, physical recovery, and the demands of caring for a newborn.
Dr. Frances Javier, M.D., medical director and psychiatrist at Neuro Wellness Spa in Marina del Rey, brings specialized expertise to perinatal depression treatment, offering innovative approaches that prioritizes the safety of both the mother and the baby.
“With pregnancy, there are physiological changes that happen, there are hormonal changes that can affect their mood, our cognition, anxiety, etcetera — the way we respond to stress,” explains Dr. Javier, highlighting how pregnancy creates real biological changes that extend far beyond emotional adjustment.
One of the most significant insights Dr. Javier shares regards transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a treatment option for pregnant patients. Unlike oral medications that carry potential risks during pregnancy, TMS offers an approach without systemic side effects or drug interactions, making it particularly valuable for expectant mothers.
In this informative video, you’ll learn:
- Navigating Perinatal Depression: Understanding, Challenges, and Treatment Options
- What Is Perinatal Mental Health?
- Prenatal Depression: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment for Mental Health During Pregnancy
- What Postpartum Depression Treatment Is the Safest?
- Perinatal Mood and Anxiety (PMADs)
- Therapy for New Parents: Supporting the Transition Into Parenthood
Dr. Javier emphasizes that effective maternal mental health care requires three key components: early detection through routine screening, professional treatment when needed, and strong social support systems that help mothers navigate this transformative period.
If you or someone you care about is struggling with perinatal depression, Neuro Wellness Spa offers comprehensive maternal mental health services with expert physicians providing specialized care for pregnant and postpartum women alike. Our compassionate team offers TMS therapy, medication management for pregnant women, and collaborative care with OB teams to ensure the best outcomes for both the mother and baby. Call Neuro Wellness Spa today to begin your journey toward better mental well-being during this important time.
Dr. Frances Javier, M.D., on Perinatal Depression
“I think TMS is an excellent option for pregnant patients because it doesn’t have the same systemic side effects or drug interactions that an oral medication might. I’m Francis Javier, the medical director for Neuro Wellness Spa, Marina del Rey. My daily work here at Neuro Wellness is something I’m so excited to do on a daily basis because I get to provide cutting-edge biological treatments to patients every day and I get to witness their improvement and them getting their quality of life back.”
What changes during pregnancy can cause depression?
“With pregnancy, there are physiological changes that happen, there are hormonal changes that can affect their mood, our cognition, anxiety, etcetera — the way we respond to stress. There are also physical biological changes that happen. For example, our gray matter cortex shrinks when we get pregnant.
“And TMS can be very helpful because it helps improve our mood, our anxiety, our sleep. The reality is there are changes, and TMS can help mitigate those changes by improving the neuroplasticity and making us feel more focused, improving our energy, and just making us feel more resilient to not just recover from the pregnancy and birth, but also take care of the brand-new infant.”
What are common treatments for perinatal depression?
“With any treatment discussion, it’s always a collaborative effort between the patient and their clinical providers, especially in pregnant patients. So, very commonly we collaborate with the OB team, the patient, to see what would make the most sense — it’s always risk/benefits.
“Usually, you know, unless there is a strong contraindication of continuing the medication — for example, there are birth defect risks in the first trimester — most of the time we recommend that people continue their mental health medication. If we’re talking depression, most of the time people are on antidepressants, and a majority of the time our recommendation is to continue their oral medications because untreated mental health disorder has also negative sequelae in both mom and baby.”
How can mental wellness be supported in new mothers?
“I think with maternal mental health, there’s a few things. There’s early detection, there’s treatment, and social support. You know, with early detection, I know nowadays it’s pretty much part of the practice either in the primary care physician’s office, the pediatrician’s office, and the OBGYN’s office to all do a lot of these depression questionnaires to help screen for mom and catch symptoms early. Because sometimes it’s hard to realize when things are changing for you, you’re functioning not quite as optimally. Is it depression? Is it sleep deprivation? Is it, I’m adjusting to being a new mom?
“And, that’s one way of getting ahead of the problem: seeking mental health treatment with a professional, you know, psychiatrist, therapist. We are well trained in determining, you know, is this a normal or expected physiological change in your mood? Or is this kind of veering into major depression around? And it’s very helpful to get ahead of it because, you know, we don’t want mom’s physical health to suffer and baby’s physical health to suffer.
“And as you know, those early years in child development are crucial, especially the bonding between mom and baby. And when you’re suffering from depression, you can’t really effectively do that. And with social support, you know, whether it’s family, friends, or support groups, it’s very important for moms to get that support from the outside as well.”