The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

Can hormones help postpartum psychosis? Why the fall in estrogen and progesterone after birth is so often overlooked.
Jade Lloyd had her daughter in December 2020 after a three-day labour. Within months she was living with anxiety, intrusive thoughts and suicidal feelings, and when she asked her health visitor for help she was told to have a glass of wine, some chocolate and a bath. Weeks later she had her first psychotic episode and was admitted to a mother and baby unit, yet hormones were never once mentioned as part of her treatment.
Jade, now a maternal mental health advocate, talks to Dr Louise Newson about recovery, relapse and why her GP said it wasn't normal for a 32-year-old to take hormones. Louise explains the pioneering work of Dr Katharina Dalton, how some antipsychotics can lower hormone levels and where progesterone may help.
Jade closes with three take-home tips for spotting the signs and finding support.
Follow Jade: @jadealloyd
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👉 If hormones have never been part of the conversation about your postnatal mental health, the doctors at Newson Clinic can talk it through with you: https://shorturl.at/B0GIl
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👉 More from Dr Louise Newson: https://linkin.bio/drlouisenewson
Chapters
00:00 Why are hormones ignored after birth?
01:36 What happened after Jade's traumatic birth?
03:06 What did her six-week check miss?
04:24 What are intrusive thoughts after birth like?
06:01 Why was she told to have a glass of wine?
07:05 What are the early signs of mania after birth?
07:40 What does a psychotic episode feel like?
09:04 What happens in a mother and baby unit?
10:37 How did antipsychotics affect Jade's weight?
11:51 Can postpartum psychosis come back?
12:52 Did anyone ever mention her hormones?
15:29 Why did psychiatrists ignore hormones?
18:21 What is a therapeutic trial of hormones?
18:50 How does Jade feel on hormone treatment?
20:35 Why did her GP say hormones aren't 'normal' at 32?
22:32 How should doctors weigh benefits and risks?
26:16 Why is there a double standard on evidence?
27:51 Can progesterone prevent postpartum psychosis?
28:25 Can antipsychotics lower your hormone levels?
28:53 How do you ask for hormone treatment?
30:21 Are hormones safe while breastfeeding?
31:40 What are the signs of postpartum psychosis?
33:08 Where can families find support?
This conversation covers postpartum (postnatal) psychosis, intrusive thoughts, antipsychotics and the role of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone after birth.

Biochemist Dr Phyllis Bronson on why women who can't tolerate progesterone may actually be reacting to progestogens/progestins (the synthetic type of progesterone)
Phyllis has spent decades researching progesterone and mood, and her doctoral work looked at the molecular differences between body identical progesterone and the synthetic progestogens found in many contraceptive pills and older types of HRT. She joins Dr Louise Newson to share the primate study that changed how she saw synthetic hormones, and why a small change to a molecule can have such a big effect on the body.
They talk about progesterone as the "molecule of calm", how transdermal and oral progesterone work differently in the brain and why some women may simply need a higher dose. They also discuss progesterone's role in making cortisol, and why it's often the first hormone to decline, sometimes as early as your 20s and 30s.

Can you take HRT if you have endometriosis? Nicola Roberts feared it would bring her pain back. Now she takes estradiol, progesterone and testosterone and feels the best she has since she was 12.
Nicola's periods were agonising from the start, but she was put on the pill at 13 and told by nurses to take Anadin and use a hot water bottle. At 25 she was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis, then spent years on Depo-Provera, which left her with low mood, body aches and, at 40, osteoporosis.
Dr Louise Newson explains why synthetic contraceptives aren't the same as hormones, why Depo-Provera works "like giving you a menopause straight off", and how low testosterone is linked to endometriosis. They also talk about why so few women are offered testosterone, and how changing her diet and cutting sugar helped Nicola.
Nicola closes with her take-home advice for anyone with endometriosis who has been told hormones aren't an option.
Let’s connect
👉 Track your symptoms andunderstand hormones, download the Balance app: https://bit.ly/4yZty5A
👉 More from Dr LouiseNewson: https://linkin.bio/drlouisenewson

Doctors are being taught to treat hormone guidance as if it's law, but according to retired GP and medical educator Dr Mark Coombe, that guidance is too often "at best very conservative, at worst wrong."
Mark spent two decades in education and assessment for the Royal College of GPs and founded FourteenFish, the training platform used by hundreds of thousands of clinicians. He and Louise previously built free hormone education for GPs together — education that was pulled from its hosting platform after a handful of doctors complained it didn't "run to the guidelines."
In this conversation, Mark and Louise unpack how guidance gets misused as law in consultations and courtrooms, why NICE menopause guidance mentions breast cancer over 20 times more often than osteoporosis, and why more female GPs take HRT than the general public despite so much hesitancy to prescribe it. They close with three take-home tips on why every healthcare professional has a duty of care to understand progesterone, estradiol and testosterone.
Let’s connect
👉 Track your symptoms andunderstand hormones, download the Balance app: https://bit.ly/4yZty5A
👉 More from Dr LouiseNewson: https://linkin.bio/drlouisenewson

In this really interesting episode, two ocean rowers over 50 share their menopause journeys. One of them takes all three hormones, and the other would love to but has been refused testosterone by so many doctors.
Gail Wolstenholme and Nicola Matthews are part of Team Old Enough to Row Better, a five-person crew aiming to become the oldest mixed team to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic in the World's Toughest Row. Gail takes all three hormones and describes testosterone as "like the sun coming out." Nicola has tried the Mirena coil, gels and patches without feelinglike herself, was told by one GP she was too old for "that mucky stuff" and handed antidepressants, and still can't get testosterone prescribed in Scotland.
Dr Louise Newson explains why it's still so hard to access evidence-based hormone treatment, why testosterone matters for women's mood, energy and coordination, and why you can't exercise your way out of hormone deficiency.
They also share why taking up something new after 50 matters, from staying physically and mentally active to building confidence and widening your social circle, with four take-home tips.
Sponsor the crew: www.oldenoughtorowbetter.co.uk

Follow: @old_enough_to_row_better

LET'S CONNECT
👉Been dismissed or offered antidepressants instead of hormones? Book with Newson Clinic: https://www.newsonhealth.co.uk/
👉 More from Dr Louise Newson: https://linkin.bio/drlouisenewson