On Perinatal Mental Health: Navigating Pregnancy and Postpartum

In this episode of On the Mind, host Dr. Daniel Knoepflmacher speaks with Dr. Alyson Gorun, a reproductive psychiatrist and Acting Director of the Aaron Stern, M.D., Ph.D. Program in Psychodynamic Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine, about mental health during the perinatal period. Dr. Gorun discusses the psychiatric conditions most commonly associated with pregnancy and the postpartum months, how pre-existing diagnoses can be destabilized by hormonal and psychosocial changes, and the complex risk-benefit considerations that guide medication decisions. She also addresses the psychological weight of new parenthood, structural disparities in perinatal care, and evidence-based approaches to both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment.