Perinatal Mental Health Online Course(s) & Continuing Education
Access the latest clinical skills and research for Perinatal Mental Health for Postpartum professional training. These Perinatal Mental Health online courses provide practice-changing skills and valuable perspectives from leading global experts. This Perinatal Mental Health education has been accredited for a variety of CEUs / CERPs and can be accessed on-demand, at your own pace.
An Introduction to Listening Visits in Perinatal Mental Health
Jane has worked in London, Swansea, Bahamas and Oman, as a Mental Health Nurse, Registered Nurse and Health Visitor. She retired from her last post as Senior Lecturer in Public and Mental Health, and now has honorary status. Jane was the first health visitor to be made the President of the United Kingdom Marcé Society and then the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health. She is currently on the Executive Board of the Marcé Society and is the Director of her training company in Perinatal Mental Health. Many of her courses have been accredited by the Continuing Professional Development Service. Jane is also working closely with the All Wales Perinatal Group and has been involved in many national and international groups.
Topic: The Process of the Listening Visit – Challenges and Successes - [View Abstract]
This session is intended to help the Practitioner understand the process of perinatal mental health and how traditional practices are sometimes an integral part of the perinatal process. It also explores why good perinatal mental health is a prerequisite for a healthy lifestyle for both parent and infant. It examines some of the evidence for the efficacy of the Listening Visit and how the Practitioner can help.
Anxiety and Related Disorders During Pregnancy and Postpartum
Dr. Melanie Badali is a Registered Psychologist in British Columbia, Canada with over 20 years of experience working as a clinician, researcher, and instructor in the field of clinical psychology.
Dr. Badali currently provides psychological assessment and treatment services at the North Shore Stress and Anxiety Clinic, where she is on the Perinatal Services Team. She is certified in the practice of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) by the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies and works with the organization to advance training, knowledge and accreditation in CBT. She has experience working in a variety of clinical settings including inpatient and outpatient, public and private.
She is also an Associate Faculty member at Yorkville University, where she teaches in the Master's of Counselling Psychology Program.
As a Board Director for Anxiety Canada, a non-profit organization that increases awareness, promotes education and provides resources for people dealing with anxiety, her role includes advocacy, research, knowledge translation and speaking to the media.
Dr. Badali is actively involved in research, training and writing. She enjoys creating psychoeducational resources such as the Canadian Psychological Association’s new factsheet on Perinatal Anxiety and is currently working on the third edition of the book, “Match Made on Earth”.
The perinatal period is a time of great transition and uncertainty. It is normal for women to experience increased stress and anxiety as they adjust to changes in their body and life. But experiencing anxiety is not the same as having an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are associated with intense distress and significant impairment in functioning (which can include problems caring for self and baby). Anxiety Disorders are estimated to occur in 9% to 22% of women during pregnancy and 11% to 21% of women postpartum. The good news is that Anxiety Disorders are treatable. Psychotherapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) are effective and have no known contraindications for pregnant and breastfeeding women. The goal of this presentation is to help front line health care professionals recognize problematic anxiety during the perinatal period and identify evidence-based interventions.
Beyond the Birth Plan: Trauma-Informed Childbirth Preparation for Survivors
Dr Justine Leach is an advocate for trauma-informed care in the perinatal period and co-founder of Resilient Birth, a company which trains healthcare providers and other perinatal professionals in supporting survivors giving birth. She also helps expectant parents with histories of trauma prepare for childbirth through trauma-informed childbirth education classes and birth support planning. Dr Leach became a B.A.C.E. certified childbirth educator and advocate after the birth of her two children revealed the impact of trauma experiences on childbirth. She has a Ph.D. on representations of sexual consent in narratives of rape and sexual trauma, and facilitates the Trauma-Informed Perinatal Professionals facebook group. Justine speaks about the experience of giving birth as a survivor of rape and the important role healthcare providers and perinatal professionals play in a birth giver’s experience of trauma or healing.
Survivors of trauma are at an increased risk not only of experiencing post-traumatic stress symptoms during their pregnancy, but also birth trauma and postpartum PTSD. Yet too often survivors’ needs are ignored and traditional childbirth preparation is neither trauma-informed nor supportive of survivors’ emotional experiences. This presentation envisions what childbirth preparation looks like from a trauma-informed perspective. It will explore how to create safety in our relationships with birth givers, how to help survivors feel their power, and how to hold space for their emotional journey to parenthood. I discuss the impact of previous trauma on birth givers in pregnancy and birth, and explore what can be done prenatally to prevent birth trauma. Participants will gain practical skills for supporting survivors’ emotional wellbeing and for helping them to plan for a safe birth experience. This involves rethinking the birth plan. Instead of merely articulating a birth givers’ preferences for or against interventions, a birth plan should be rethought as a Birth Support Plan: that is, it should communicate what a birth giver needs to feel safe, understood, and in control of the decisions they make around their care whether their birth goes to plan or not.
Desirée is a perinatal psychotherapist, trained birth doula, Reiki practitioner, and owner of Motherland Community helping women decipher the funk of motherhood through her practice in Baltimore, MD. A mother of 2 boys, Desirée ignited her passion for perinatal mental health after experiencing undiagnosed postpartum depression and OCD.
Using her own experience and compassion in hopes to heal others, Desirée completed training as a birth doula in 2014 and the Postpartum Support International’s Components of Care Training on PMADs in 2015. Since then, she has immersed her free time in PMAD (Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorder) awareness. Additionally, she serves as a Maryland co-coordinator for PSI (Postpartum Support International), co-founder of the Perinatal Mental Health Alliance for Women of Color and her practice is a Perinatal Safe Spot through the National Perinatal Taskforce.
Desirée’s philosophy is ‘every woman should be nurtured and cared for during her transition to motherhood. It is a rite of passage that has no manual, only the virtue of patience, sacrifice and sense of community that is necessary to hold space for a woman on the other side of birth.
African-American mothers experience birth and perinatal complications at a disproportionate rate. Thirty-eight percent of new mothers of color experience perinatal emotional complications like depression and anxiety. Women of color experience these complications at twice the rate of white women. Sixty percent of women of color do not receive treatment or support services for perinatal emotional complications. Reasons for this include lack of insurance coverage, social and cultural stigma, logistical barriers to services and lack of culturally appropriate care. This presentation will give a brief overview of racial trauma and its effects on perinatal outcomes for mothers of color, specifically African-American mothers, a template for a trauma-informed approach and examples of trauma-informed models of care to prevent negative outcomes.
View Details / Enroll
Began exploring her interests in Natural Healing Arts and Complementary Medicine as a Midwife after the home birth of her first child in 1993. In the state of Florida, she completed her Diploma of Midwifery and graduated in 1997 from the School of Complementary Medicine in Central FL. Tomasina has many credentials in ethno-medicinal sciences, herbology, botanical chemistry, health & mental wellness counseling, education and spiritual facilitation work. Tomasina apprenticed with meta-physical healers, physicians and several other multi-disciplinary specialists to complete an internship as a Complementary Medicine Practitioner, and later became a Holistic Health Practitioner and Master Herbalist. She remains committed to building within communities of African descent to enhance social justice for all concerned. Her skill set is unparalleled in diverse treatment options for the well being of Families, Mothers and Babies as she has delivered double and well over 1000 babies since 2012. ANS(Autonomic Nerve System) Therapy, Iridology, Kinesiology, MT (Muscle Testing) and NLP(Neuro Linguistic Programming) are just a few other healing arts Midwife Tomasina has acquired expert proficiency in serving Clients for over 20 years. Having briefly served on the NARM (North American Registry Midwives) board, she is familiar with the nuances and intricacies of corporate Midwifery work and is excited to serve as Vice President for MANA (Midwives Alliance of North America).
Our live discussion with our experts will touch on the "health state of the mind and its processes for women of childbearing age" (and other definitions of black maternal mental health). Our discussion will further look at stressors, trauma and influences that impact black maternal mental health and in bringing awareness to the masses. We will ask if there are solutions that can yield a more hopeful, positive outcome as we look into these disparities.
Common Perinatal Mental Disorders: An Approach for the Maternal Health Care Provider
Dr Simone Honikman is a medical doctor (UCT) with clinical experience in Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Psychiatry and a Masters degree in Maternal and Child Health (UCT). She is founder and director of the 15-year old Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP) based at UCT. The Project has received formal commendation by the World Health Organisation. Simone received the international Ashoka Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship, has published academic papers, book chapters editorials and training manuals. She designs and conducts training for a wide range of healthcare and social service providers and consults to health policy and programme processes within South Africa. Through her involvement in several research consortia, she has collaborated with clinicians and researchers in high, low and middle income countries.
Perinatal common mental disorders (depression and anxiety) are highly prevalent, particularly in socio-economically adverse settings. These disorders are associated with substantial morbidity for mothers and their offspring, exerting impacts at multiple levels, and across generations. In high income settings, maternal suicide is rated among the leading causes of maternal mortality while contributing smaller, but notable proportions of maternal deaths in Low and Middle Income Countries. There is a growing body of evidence that integrating mental health care in to maternal and child care platforms, may be an effective and efficient way of addressing the unmet need faced by so many women. The presentation will cover common perinatal mental disorders: epidemiology, risk factors, clinical presentations, and adverse impacts for mothers and infants. A practical approach to detection and management will be offered, aimed maternal care providers who are not mental health specialists. The presentation will be particularly relevant for providers working in resource constrained settings, but will also have relevance for all perinatal care providers.
View Details / Enroll
Does Breastfeeding Protect Maternal Mental Health? The Role of Oxytocin and Stress
Dr. Kendall-Tackett is a health psychologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and the Owner and Editor-in-Chief of Praeclarus Press, a small press specializing in women's health. Dr. Kendall-Tackett is Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Psychological Trauma and was Founding Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Lactation, a position she held for 11 years. She is Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Health and Trauma Psychology, Past President of the APA Division of Trauma Psychology, and a member of APA’s Publications and Communications Board.
Topic: Burnout, Compassion Fatigue and Self-Care for Members of the Perinatal Team - [View Abstract]
Topic: Burnout, Secondary Trauma, and Moral Injury in Perinatal Care Providers - [View Abstract]
Topic: Does Breastfeeding Protect Maternal Mental Health? The Role of Oxytocin and Stress - [View Abstract]
Topic: Lessons to Learn from Fed Is Best: How Can We Improve Our Care? - [View Abstract]
Topic: Mother-Infant Sleep Location: It's Not as Simple as it Seems - [View Abstract]
Topic: Trauma and Breastfeeding: Working Effectively with Trauma Survivors - [View Abstract]
Topic: What’s New in Postpartum Depression? A Summary of Current Findings - [View Abstract]
Depression research contains many conclusions that appear to contradict each other regarding the role of breastfeeding. For example, breastfeeding lowers the risk of depression, but depression increases the risk that breastfeeding will fail. Moreover, breastfeeding problems increase women's risk of depression. These findings are not as contradictory as they may seem. By understanding the underlying physiological mechanism, we can understand these seemingly paradoxical findings. This presentation will describe the link between the stress and oxytocin systems, and how they relate to both maternal mental health and breastfeeding. When the stress system is upregulated, depression and breastfeeding difficulties follow. Conversely, when oxytocin is upregulated, maternal mental health and breastfeeding rates improve. This talk also includes the role of birth interventions and mother-infant sleep, as well as practical strategies that increase oxytocin.
View Details / Enroll
View Details / Enroll
Maureen Campion MS LP is a licensed psychologist and relationship expert. She specializes in the early years of parenting and building securely attached families. Through her weekly newsletter Notes from a Marriage Geek and workshops she offers inclusive, research based marriage and parenting education. She turned her personal birth trauma experience into a passion for guiding couples through their healing and is the author of Heal Your Birth Story. Find Maureen at Marriagegeek.com
While we know how joyous and beautiful birth can be, we also know that about 10-15% of women experience something traumatic at birth. Birth trauma impacts mothers, babies and those that care for them. Psychologist Maureen Campion has been offering her Healing Birth Stories workshop for 9 years and turned her professional and personal work into a book that supports women and families on their healing journey. She offers compassionate and effective tools to support both survivors and the professionals that work in this field. Come join us as we delve into the tough emotions around birth and explore our own trauma while looking at healing and transforming the stories we carry around birth.
Heartbroken: Loss and Grief in the Perinatal Time Period
Cynthia Good, MS Clinical Psychology, is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Clinical Counselor, author, consultant, and internationally recognized speaker. She is the Director of LifeCircle Consulting, LLC and is Certified in Acute Traumatic Stress Management. She is based in the Seattle, Washington, USA area, where she formerly served as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Midwifery at Bastyr University where she taught counseling skills and is a therapist at Sandbox Therapy Group where she works with children, adults, and families. Cynthia has a strong interest in the emerging field of lactational psychology. She brings the evidence and insights of psychology and lactation consulting to her presentations, providing information and teaching skills that are essential to understanding and effectively responding to the complex psychosocial realities of families living in diverse contexts. The focus of her presentations includes communication skills and counseling techniques for perinatal care providers; equity, diversity, and inclusion; infant feeding rhetoric; perinatal mental health; perinatal loss, grief, and trauma; ethics; serving as an expert witness in lactation-related court cases; cultural competence and humility; vitamin D; and more.
Topic: Heartbroken: Loss and Grief in the Perinatal Time Period - [View Abstract]
Topic: It Wasn’t Supposed to be Like This: Traumatic Birth, Traumatic Stress, and Breastfeeding - [View Abstract]
Topic: My Brain is Doing What? Bias, Ethics, and the Lactation Specialist - [View Abstract]
Topic: Perinatal Mental Health Screening: A Primer for Lactation Specialists - [View Abstract]
Topic: The IBCLC as Expert Witness: Role, Strategies, and Resources - [View Abstract]
Topic: The Rug Pulled Out from Underneath Me: Depression During Pregnancy and After Birth - [View Abstract]
Topic: Unpacking the Invisible Diaper Bag of White Privilege: An Overview of Racial Inequities in Breastfeeding Support - [View Abstract]
Topic: We’re Human, Too: Hidden Dynamics in Our Communication with Clients - [View Abstract]
A variety of losses and types of grief are common in the perinatal time period. Some of these losses are specifically related to the reproductive and perinatal experience and some just happen to occur during pregnancy or after birth. Perinatal care providers who understand the diverse experience of loss and grief are better able to provide compassionate and effective care for the families they seek to serve. This presentation provides an overview of loss and grief, including the difference between bereavement, grief, and mourning; ambiguous loss; disenfranchised grief; prolonged grief; chronic sorrow; and depression. It also describes skills—such as companioning, screening, and referral—that are part of providing grief-sensitive care to expectant and new parents who are coping with loss and grief.
View Details / Enroll
I am a Clinical Psychologist and transformation coach for women. I’ve also taught childbirth education. I have 12+ years experience supporting families through the worst traumas imaginable, to find growth, strength and beautiful resilience they never knew possible. After experiencing my own birth trauma (twice!) I quickly learned how little support and training there is for our birth workers who hear and witness these stories every day. From this, I developed two birth trauma training courses – one for parents, and one for birth workers. I gained over 650 enrolments in 3 months, so I know how much this work is needed. I also run a birth trauma training podcast, and I’m currently finishing writing my book. A beautiful, heartfelt call to action for families to not only find strength and growth after birth trauma, but to become the guardians of change in birth culture for the next generation.
"Birth trauma impacts at least 1 in 3 birthing people, but who is often left out of the picture? The partners. Vicarious trauma in birthing partners is very real, and yet there is little to no acknowledgment let alone resources to help.
Witnessing birth trauma in one’s partner has the potential to: (1) create severe cognitive dissonance (“I know what happened to my partner was wrong, yet I did nothing to stop it”), (2) contribute to unresolved feelings of shame, guilt, helplessness and rage, and/or difficulties with bonding (3) contribute to heightened nervous system activity (e.g., oscillating between ‘fight’ mode and ‘freeze’ mode), and (4) contribute to unhelpful, negative birth storytelling culture which minimizes the role of partners.
On the contrary, partners who are well supported (emotionally, cognitively and socially) have phenomenal potential for growth. In this presentation, we will explore what it means to work with partners through the lens of posttraumatic growth. How to validate and educate about trauma in a way that allows partners to step into self-compassion. We will explore how to inspire partners to see their own potential for growth, leadership and even advocacy.
