Here are the news articles covering clinical topics that caught my eye in the last two months. Note the focus on gut health and nutrition and the connection to depression. If you have had experiences as a patient or treating provider with any of these treatments please post your story in the comments below.

The Vagus Nerve May Carry Serotonin Along the Gut-Brain Axis

SSRIs may activate vagus nerve-dependent gut-to-brain serotonin signaling. Read more here.

In September there was a lot of news surrounding maternal mortality. If you are like me, you couldn’t quite keep up and wondered “what did I miss?” The Mom Congress teamed up with our contacts at the CDC and combed through our in-boxes, to piece together the story. Here is the low-down and some other helpful resources:

ERASE MM Grants Released

The Centers for Disease Control awarded grants through the “Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality” (ERASE MM) program to the following states:

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, …

I’m writing this post, 8 years to the day of when I convened our first call with stakeholders (learn more about why this first call was held, and why I raised my hand to lead it, on the video at the top of our About 2020 Mom page.)

Recalling Our Journey

I heard over and over again that providers needed more training, and universal screening was a must. This made sense, though what I wanted to understand was why women weren’t already being screened, diagnosed and treated.

I began my quest for knowledge. I combed through research (which was difficult to consolidate, and often contradictory) and struggled to find answers.