Sample Class Outline

Understanding the problem

  • What is Perinatal Mental Health (PMH)?

    • Timing and conditions

    • Current language used to refer to and discuss PMH

    • Impacts of untreated PMH conditions on pregnancy, infants, family, society

  • Stats

    • General 

      • How many have a PMH condition

      • How many are diagnosed

      • How many treated

      • Successful treatment

    • Each condition’s specific prevalence

    • Prevalence as compared to other pregnancy-related conditions like GDM, HTN, etc.

    • Leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths

  • Barriers to identification, referrals, and treatment

    • Stigma and cultural considerations

    • Screening challenges

    • Fear of therapy/medication

    • SDOH

    • Navigating the healthcare system while experiencing the condition

    • Lack of perinatally trained providers

Learning about specific conditions

  • General risk factors

    • Biological 

    • Genetic

    • Environment and social supports

    • Circumstances under which one gets pregnant (age, unplanned, etc.)

    • Relationship with other parent

    • Pregnancy or birth events

  • Integrating pregnancy/postpartum specific solutions into standard interventions 

    • Physical; exercise and SLEEP

    • Mindfulness, self-soothing, and self-care

    • Social connection

    • Practical support such as housework, caring for baby, etc. 

  • Review spectrum of conditions:

    • For each condition

      • Signs and symptoms specific to the condition

      • Risk factors specific to the condition

      • Treatment considerations specific to the condition

  • Conditions

    • Baby Blues

    • Depression

    • Bipolar Disorder

    • Psychosis 

    • Anxiety

    • OCD

    • Birth trauma and PTSD

    • Maternal Substance Disorder

  • Considerations for subsets within the perinatal population 

    • Various subset groups

      • Fathers/partners/other support people, adoptive/foster parents, etc.

      • Communities of color

      • Queer community

      • Single parents

      • Others 

Working towards a solution

  • Identification

    • Screeners- best practices

    • Intake: Assessing safety and supports

  • Finding resources and support

  • How to find and refer to Perinatal Mental Health Certified (PMH-C) providers

  • Navigating the Healthcare system

  • Basics to consider and address when working with the Perinatal population

    • Breastfeeding

    • Sleep

    • Significant life change

    • Role of partner/support people

    • Supporting mom/parent AND baby

  • Therapeutic techniques

  • Medication management

    • Myths and mismanagement

    • Current research and best practices

    • Patient resources for pregnancy and lactation medication safety

    • Provider resources for prescribing

  • What partners/support people can do to help

  • Resources; maternity and MH, local and digital

  • What YOU can do in your professional role (CTA)

  • How to get more training if interested in pursuing this specialty