New postpartum depression drug, with Long Island ties, 'another option for moms'
Dr. Kristina M. Deligiannidis was the principal investigator on the clinical trials for zuranolone, a new medication for postpartum depression recently approved by the FDA. Credit: Feinstein Institutes
After giving birth to her son, Nicole Taglienti struggled with anxiety and depression.
“I was not the person I normally am,” Taglienti, 35, of Mastic said. “Nothing gave me joy. I couldn’t eat. I couldn't sleep. I felt like I was losing my mind.”
Taglienti discovered she was suffering from postpartum depression, like an estimated 400,000 women per year.
Federal regulators on Friday approved zuranolone, the first pill specifically intended to treat depression after childbirth that researchers believe will provide treatment for thousands of new mothers.
In national clinical trials, led by the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, patients showed relief from their symptoms in just a few days and sustained benefits for several weeks.
“What we saw in the trials was this rapid antidepressant response, a rapid reduction of depression as soon as day three,” said Dr. Kristina M. Deligiannidis, principal investigator on the drug's trial and professor at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the Feinstein Institutes. “I evaluated them the next day and they were already feeling so much better.”
About one in eight women experience symptoms of postpartum depression after giving birth, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those symptoms range from worrying or feeling overly anxious to crying more often, anger and withdrawing from loved ones. In rare and severe cases, a new mother has hurt herself or her children.
Some experts say zuranolone, which has the brand name Zurzuvae, could go a long way to helping women, many of whom have been suffering in silence. The first oral medication for postpartum depression received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Current medications for depression can take weeks to take effect. And the only other FDA-approved medication for postpartum depression, brexanolone, has to be administered intravenously.
Women take zuranolone in a pill form for 14 days. Deligiannidis said the clinical trials showed some women still had relief from their symptoms on the 15th day and even a month later.
“I think it’s great to have another option for moms,” said Bridget Croteau, a mother of two from Bay Shore who suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth to her now-11 year old. “It’s another tool in our toolbox.”
Croteau, 39, said she had a difficult birth and her daughter needed to spend a week in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“I cried every day,” she said. “I didn’t think it was postpartum depression.”
She did not take medication but used therapy and support from other women at the West Islip-based Postpartum Resource Center of New York.
Taglienti said she got the help she needed from peer counseling at the center and conventional anti-depression medication from her doctor.
"I got assurance that I was going to be OK and this is not the new me," said the mom of three, who is expecting her fourth child.
Both Croteau and Taglienti are now peer coaches with the group, working to help other women with postpartum depression.
“I think sharing our stories and experiences gives other moms hope,” Croteau said.
Sonia Murdock, executive director of the center, said the stigma around postpartum depression has eased in the last 30 years but there is still more work to do.
“We have celebrities who have risked their careers to come out and speak about their postpartum depression experiences,” she said. “There has to be more awareness of the help and support that is available.”
Deligiannidis said women who take zuranolone should be monitored after their course of medication is completed to see if symptoms of depression return.
“I think it’s going to be a personalized approach,” she said, noting some women may need therapy or more medication depending on their symptoms while others won’t. “We want to make sure we treat them until they have no symptoms at all.”
More research is also needed to determine whether repeated courses of zuranolone past the 14 days would be effective, Deligiannidis said. But having a possible fast-acting medication will provide relief to scores of women.
"This allows us to get that depression down, gives us some breathing room and restores her function, her interactions with her children and her time with family in a way we were not able to do before," she said.
After giving birth to her son, Nicole Taglienti struggled with anxiety and depression.
“I was not the person I normally am,” Taglienti, 35, of Mastic said. “Nothing gave me joy. I couldn’t eat. I couldn't sleep. I felt like I was losing my mind.”
Taglienti discovered she was suffering from postpartum depression, like an estimated 400,000 women per year.
Federal regulators on Friday approved zuranolone, the first pill specifically intended to treat depression after childbirth that researchers believe will provide treatment for thousands of new mothers.
WHAT TO KNOW
- The FDA has approved zuranolone, the first oral medication for postpartum depression.
- Clinical trials, led by the Feinstein Institutes in Manhasset, showed the medication eased symptoms in some women in the first few days of taking it.
- Before zuranolone, there was only one other FDA-approved medication for postpartum depression called brexanolone which needs to be administered intravenously.
In national clinical trials, led by the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, patients showed relief from their symptoms in just a few days and sustained benefits for several weeks.
“What we saw in the trials was this rapid antidepressant response, a rapid reduction of depression as soon as day three,” said Dr. Kristina M. Deligiannidis, principal investigator on the drug's trial and professor at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the Feinstein Institutes. “I evaluated them the next day and they were already feeling so much better.”
About one in eight women experience symptoms of postpartum depression after giving birth, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those symptoms range from worrying or feeling overly anxious to crying more often, anger and withdrawing from loved ones. In rare and severe cases, a new mother has hurt herself or her children.
Some experts say zuranolone, which has the brand name Zurzuvae, could go a long way to helping women, many of whom have been suffering in silence. The first oral medication for postpartum depression received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Current medications for depression can take weeks to take effect. And the only other FDA-approved medication for postpartum depression, brexanolone, has to be administered intravenously.
Women take zuranolone in a pill form for 14 days. Deligiannidis said the clinical trials showed some women still had relief from their symptoms on the 15th day and even a month later.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the medication zuranolone for the treatment of postpartum depression. National clinical trials were led by the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset. Credit: Feinstein Institutes
“I think it’s great to have another option for moms,” said Bridget Croteau, a mother of two from Bay Shore who suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth to her now-11 year old. “It’s another tool in our toolbox.”
Croteau, 39, said she had a difficult birth and her daughter needed to spend a week in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“I cried every day,” she said. “I didn’t think it was postpartum depression.”
She did not take medication but used therapy and support from other women at the West Islip-based Postpartum Resource Center of New York.
Taglienti said she got the help she needed from peer counseling at the center and conventional anti-depression medication from her doctor.
"I got assurance that I was going to be OK and this is not the new me," said the mom of three, who is expecting her fourth child.
Both Croteau and Taglienti are now peer coaches with the group, working to help other women with postpartum depression.
“I think sharing our stories and experiences gives other moms hope,” Croteau said.
Sonia Murdock, executive director of the center, said the stigma around postpartum depression has eased in the last 30 years but there is still more work to do.
“We have celebrities who have risked their careers to come out and speak about their postpartum depression experiences,” she said. “There has to be more awareness of the help and support that is available.”
Deligiannidis said women who take zuranolone should be monitored after their course of medication is completed to see if symptoms of depression return.
“I think it’s going to be a personalized approach,” she said, noting some women may need therapy or more medication depending on their symptoms while others won’t. “We want to make sure we treat them until they have no symptoms at all.”
More research is also needed to determine whether repeated courses of zuranolone past the 14 days would be effective, Deligiannidis said. But having a possible fast-acting medication will provide relief to scores of women.
"This allows us to get that depression down, gives us some breathing room and restores her function, her interactions with her children and her time with family in a way we were not able to do before," she said.
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
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