🥑 🥜 Field Notes: New drug for postpartum depression, POTS snack list, caregiver resources + more
Plus, this beautiful quote from illustrator Charlie Mackesy: “One day you’ll see how hard it was and how brave you were.”
Hello, dear friends! I hope you are doing alright this week. The crickets are beginning to chirp here in the Hudson Valley, New York, as the evenings turn cooler and the dusk begins earlier. (I searched for a cricket sound to share with you and stumbled upon a whole slew of nature videos designed to help induce sleep? Wow. Perhaps we should talk about sounds — or non-sounds — for sleep sometime!)
On to this week’s Field Notes, 6 interesting things I’ve run across lately:
1} Zuranolone and Postpartum Depression: How to know if new FDA-approved drug could be right for you (Parent Data newsletter) — This is the kind of Q&A, with a detailed, evidence-based yet easy-to-understand reply, that I wish we had more of when it came to new drugs. (And old drugs, for that matter.) Emily Oster dives into the data on the new drug Zuranolone, which was recently approved by the FDA (but won’t be available for at least 90 days due to the FDA waiting period) for severe postpartum depression only. The data is promising. She adds this note: “The coverage has touted zuranolone as the first treatment for postpartum depression. I’m not sure this is very accurate, and I worry a little bit that it is misleading. This is the first medication that has been specifically approved for postpartum depression outside of a hospital setting. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been other treatments available that we know work. Even if this drug doesn’t seem right for you, or doesn’t fit your level of depressive symptoms, be assured there is still a possibility of help.”
2} ‘I just don't want to die’: Black pregnant women are turning to midwives for personalized care — and a better chance at survival (Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO) — How can we lower the number of deaths of Black mothers-to-be, which are three times as high as white mothers-to-be? This story by Louis Hansen with exquisite photos by Karen Kasmauski details the role midwives can play in protecting the health of expectant Black mothers and saving lives. Nichole Wardlaw, who is a midwife in Hampton Roads, Virginia, said, “I get a lot of clients, especially Black women, who have had trauma during their last pregnancies. They didn't like how they were treated at the hospital. They did not appreciate not feeling heard or supported. That seems to be a recurring theme.” Midwives are advocates and collaborative supporters for women throughout their pregnancy and birth and afterwards. Karen chronicled the work of Black midwives between January and April in this intimate photo essay.
3} Caregiving Care Package — This collection of resources for caregivers assembled by the inimitable Kate Bowler includes videos, podcast episodes, blessings, alliances and nonprofits (included the terrific Negative Space), and more. Kate writes: “When I got sick, it took me a while to realize that I wasn’t alone in this. There were so many people around me who were carrying me, and frankly, sometimes they got tired too. Yet the work and advocacy and scheduling and meds continue. We’ve made this resource page with you in mind.”
4} Two opportunities to be part of the 2024 Gold Humanism Summit — The nonprofit where I work, The Arnold P. Gold Foundation (this newsletter is separate from my work there), is holding an open call for both presentations (lectures, panel sessions, workshops, posters) and artwork (paintings, photographs, poems, sculptures, digital video art; it’s very open!) for its 2024 conference in Atlanta. The event will have an amazing collection of topics and speakers focusing on humanism in healthcare, and it’s open to all of us — patients, caregivers, doctors and nurses, healthcare team members of all kinds, medical and nursing students, academic and corporate leaders, supporters. Submissions to present are due Sept. 12 and artwork submissions are due Oct. 1.
5} People of the Salt: An essay, and snack list for people with POTS. (Vittles newsletter) — Gabrielle de la Puente writes: “I got Covid two-and-a-half years ago, back when we were in Delta times, and it just never went away. Long Covid is an umbrella term for post-viral misery, and the kind I have is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or PoTS. When a healthy person stands up, their heart rate increases for a moment to compensate for the change in blood pressure. When I try, my nervous system goes haywire. My blood is overrun with hormones that make my heart rate climb until I am dizzy, sweating, breathless and faint.” POTS patients, she writes, sometimes refer to themselves as People of the Salt, as their blood is not good at retaining water or salt: “When I was diagnosed, the doctor at the Long Covid Clinic told me to consume two extra teaspoons of salt a day, which remains the only time I’ve ever smiled at a doctor.” (Yes, the whole essay is a delight to read.) Thus, she complied this magnificent reference list of snacks for fellow People of the Salt and their caregivers — little prep, easy to eat out of bowls while on the couch. I imagine many POTS and non-POTS will find it useful. To give you a glimpse, it begins: almond butter, almonds, apples, avocado, bananas, Basque cheesecake (which I had to look up; it’s a firmer version that looks delicious), and so on, all the way to yogurt.
6} “One day you’ll see how hard it was and how brave you were.” I loved this line and illustration by Charlie Mackesy, artist, illustrator, and the author of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. He shared it on Instagram with the note: “I’m often sent pictures of this blown up on hospital walls which I find very moving.” Do we need more art like this in hospitals? Yes, yes!
I hope you found something interesting and helpful here today, or something you might share with a friend. (If you try the cricket sound to go to sleep, let me know how it goes. ;) And if you have any suggestions for things to include in future Field Notes, or topics to cover, send a note to brianne@odysseyofthebody.com. I love hearing from you.
To our journeys,
Brianne