Project Kesher Brings Expert in Reproductive Psychiatry to Moscow
On November 11, 2019 at the Moscow Auditorium Conference Center, Shari I. Lusskin, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Attending in Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, presented a lecture entitled "Improving the Treatment of Perinatal Depression: Pharmacotherapy in Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women." This was the first lecture ever given in Russia on the subject of psychopharmacology in pregnancy and lactation. Approximately 150 doctors, medical students, and other health care professionals from four countries participated in person or via a live YouTube broadcast. Among those attending in person were a group of psychiatry residents from the Ministry of Health’s V.P. Serbsky National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Narcology, the Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tula State University, Russia, and the Head of the Department of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology at Kyrgyzstan State Medical Academy, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Professionals also flew in from Belarus and Ukraine for the three-hour program. Physicians and health care professionals from Volgograd, Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Ukraine, Belarus, and Slovenia watched the program online and participated in the question and answer session.
The event was sponsored by Project Kesher, an American-based nonprofit organization that supports grassroots organizations in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, and Israel, as they develop leadership skills to advocate for Jewish identity and renewal, economic self-sufficiency, and women’s health.
Project Kesher-trained leaders had learned that the standard protocol in Russia, Ukraine, and other post-Soviet States is to discourage women with psychiatric disorders from getting pregnant if they are taking medication, or to take them off all medication when they do get pregnant. Unfortunately, this places pregnant women and their babies at risk for the effects of untreated illness. Dr. Lusskin shared research demonstrating that properly used medications may mitigate these effects in pregnant and breastfeeding women, with the benefits exceeding potential risks. Dr. Lusskin also addressed the risks associated with the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco that may accompany untreated or under-treated maternal illness and discussed how domestic violence further increases the risks for pregnant and postpartum women. She encouraged clinicians to consider this in their assessments of their patients. After the lecture, audience members enthusiastically submitted questions about difficult cases and demonstrated the potential reach of the lecture consistent with Project Kesher’s mission to improve women’s health and well-being throughout the region.
For more information, please contact:
Shira Pruce
shirapruce@projectkesher.org
732-351-9696