The latest edition of PSI News from Postpartum Support International features a great column by Dr. Sandra Nolley of the University of Washington, Seattle, who reports on the Marce Society's Biennial International Scientific Meeting in September 2006 in the U.K.

A couple of striking excerpts of Dr. Nolley's report from the meeting:

On PPD in developing nations:
"Women in developing, and therefore low-wealth, countries, are twice as likely to experience PPD as women in developed, high-wealth countries. Most prevention intervention studies in developing countries have not been effective, but a recent randomly controlled study of rural women found a 30 percent decrease in infant mortality in women who participated in mom-to-mom support groups during pregnancy."

On the causes/triggers of PMDs:
"Although most clinicians and postpartum women believe there is a hormonal trigger for postpartum mood disorders, most human research has not found any difference between the reproductive hormone levels in postpartum women with and without PMDs.

Rubinow (2005) summarized animal research where the levels or changes of estrogen and progesterone in female brains triggered affective disturbances only in some females, but had no effect on other females. He used the term 'context of vulnerability' to describe this difference between women and described some of the possible mechanisms. Greater understanding of the underpinnings of the regulation of affective state is necessary to help identify therapeutic targets to reduce the suffering of women with these disorders."

The next Marce Society Biennial Scientific Meeting will be held in 2008 in Australia.