Heads Up: This week, on Thursday, March 22 at 2 p.m. Eastern, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Association of Maternal-Child Health Programs (AMCHP) will co-sponsor a Live Webcast on Maternal Depression.

The speakers represent two states currently grappling with maternal depression as a public health issue - Diana Cheng, MD, Medical Director of Women's Health for the Maryland Department of Health, and Laura Miller, MD, from the Women's Mental Health Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The webcast is free and open to professionals and advocates working in the field of maternal-child health and mental health. But you do need to register online in advance to get the call-in info and password.

To access the downloadable presentation slides for this webcast, click here.

Posted by Sarah M. at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Postpartum Support International (PSI) has announced that registration is now open for its Annual Conference 2007, set for June 20-23 in Kansas City, Missouri.

This year's theme: "Supporting Families: Fostering Perinatal Emotional Health & Reducing Vulnerability." And the lineup of speakers and workshops looks great!

To download the conference brochure, get more info, or register online, click here.

Posted by Sarah M. at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Fabulous West Coast advocate, postpartum doula, and volunteer PSI coordinator Heidi Koss-Nobel is leading a one-day PPMD (postpartum mood disorder) workshop on Monday, March 26 at the Seattle Midwifery School in Washington State.

In addition to Heidi, speakers are Dr. Margie Bone, a psychiatrist in private practice, and Rebecca Brabo Silva, a psychotherapist in private practice.

For more details, click here.

The workshop is aimed at healthcare providers, and CEUs will be available. Tuition is $125 and space is limited, so you must register in advance by contacting the Seattle Midwifery School directly: 800.747.9433 or 206.322.8834.

Posted by Sarah M. at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Did you know that the fabulous Karen Kleiman and The Postpartum Stress Center in Philadelphia offers quarterly trainings?

The next session is set for Friday and Saturday, March 2-3, 2007! Early registration ends January 2. Click here to download and print the registration form. Discounts are available to groups and graduate students.

These trainings are unique opportunities - in small group settings of four to eight participants - for clinicians who are seriously dedicated to specializing and to becoming experts in the field of perinatal mental health. Participants spend a day not just learning the facts about assessment and treatment of perinatal mood disorders, but also learning how to interact closely with and exploring the challenges of assisting postpartum women.

Here's more from Karen:

Our belief that postpartum women require an active, involved therapist has led us to develop training methods that go beyond passive study or more traditional instruction styles. Instead, a significant component of our experiential training involves modeling the relational, philosophical style we believe essential to a positive therapeutic outcome: Therapy will be more successful if the therapist takes on a proactive role as the expert who is equally supportive and well-informed.

The staff at the PPSC are committed to making the training experience intimate and meaningful, so it can inspire other clinicians to carry out this important work on behalf of women struggling with postpartum depression.

Posted by Sarah M. at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (953) | TrackBacks (78)

The Spectrum Health Perinatal Depression Conference is set for February 8-9, 2007 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and will be attended by healthcare professionals, students, and women's/family health advocates fromt hroughout the state.

Speakers include Dr. Anthony Richtsmeier from Spectrum Health Pediatric Behavioral Medicine, Birdie Gunyon Meyer, BSN, of Clarian Health Services, psychiatrist Dr. Curt Cunningham, psychologist Dr. Kerry Kerr McAvoy, and Nancy Roberts, RN and CCE, from the Spectrum Health Postpartum Emotional Support Group.

Here's a description:

The conference will promote awareness of postpartum depression and facilitates identification, treatment, intervention, and support. Participants will brainstorm strategies for screening perinatal mood disorders, discuss appropriate pharmacologic medications, and identify available treatments.

Physicians, RNs, LPNs, social workers, mental health professionals, home health workers, and others involved int he care of women are invited. Nursing continuing education information is available on request.

For more info or to register, contact Nancy Roberts at nancy.roberts (at) spectrum-health (dot) org or 616.391.1771, or Amber Kelly at amber.kelly (at) spectrum-health (dot) org, 616.391.1422.

Posted by Sarah M. at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

What sounds like a fabulous training workshop for professionals and advocates/activists is set for February 2-3, 2007 in California, sponsored by Postpartum Support International (PSI) and El Camino Hospital.

Among the fabulous speakers is Dr. Shoshana Bennett, founder/coordinator of Postpartum Assistance for Mothers in Castro Valley, CA and past president of PSI, as well as the co-author of a great book - Beyond the Blues: A Guide to Understanding and Treating Prenatal and Postpartum Depression. Also instructing at the workshop will be Dr. Caroline Little Cribari, department chief of Behavioral Health Services at El Camino Hospital, and Dr. Pec Indman, a psychotherapist in Santa Clara, CA who is a coordinator for PSI and is involved in several international postpartum health organizations, as well as co-author of Beyond the Blues with Shoshana Bennett.

Among the topics:

Myths of Motherhood
Stigmas of Mental Illness
Care Provider Biases
Emotional Reactions to Pregnancy & Birth
Barriers to Treatment
Etiology/Symptomatology
Pharmacological Treatment of Mood Disorders during pregnancy, postpartum, & lactation
Prevention
Prenatal Screening
Postpartum Screening
Assessment and Diagnosis
Diagnostic Tools
Teamwork for Integration & Collaboration
Psychotherapeutic Models & TEchniques
Consequences to Mother, Child, & Family of Untreated PPD
... & lots more, with case studies and plenty of time for discussion.

For more info or to register, send email to: seminars (at) beyondtheblues (dot) com or call 408.255.1730.

Posted by Sarah M. at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Next week,CityMatCH and NACCHO are co-sponsoring a free conference call for public health professionals and others who work in maternal-child health.

"Addressing Maternal Mental Health in Local Health Department Healthy Start Programs" is set for Thursday, October 26 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Eastern.

Featured speakers are Belinda Pettiford, MPH, supervisor of the Perinatal Health and Family Support Unitt, Women’s and Children’s Health Section at the North Carolina Division of Public Health and president of the National Healthy Start Association; Lisa Derrick, MEd, BAM, program director of the South Phoenix Healthy Start athe Maricopa County Department of Public Health in Arizona,; Yvonne Beasley, MN, RN, project director of Indianapolis Healthy Start and director of maternal and child health at the Marion County Health Department in Illinois; and Shelley Vaughn, MS, program manager of Indianapolis Healthy Start at Marion County Health Department in Illinois.

The call will describe the efforts of the Healthy Start program to provide maternal mental health care (including screening and referrals), describe case studies in providing this type of care at two Healthy Start sites, share useful resources for providing maternal mental health services, and will include discussion of challenges faced by the program in providing mental health care.

Registration is open -- Just click here.

Posted by Sarah M. at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This week Austin, Texas is hosting the Annual Conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. And on the lineup for professional education are a six-hour institute (Thursday) on "Perinatal Mood Disorders" by Diana Barnes of PSI, and a two-hour workshop (Saturday) on "Hormones, the Brain, & Culture: Challenges for New Mothers," by Sherry Duson.

Their goal: Getting more MFTs (marriage and family therapists) up to speed on perinatal mood disorders and addressing them in clinical settings. As anyone who has experienced emotional difficulties surrounding childbirth knows all too well, it impacts the entire family, reverberating in every direction... the mother-baby relationship, the spousal relationship, and the family system as a whole.

Kudos to these fabulous folks for sharing the latest research-based information on perinatal mood disorders at a national conference, where the message has a big impact on the care women and families will receive in communities across the country!

Posted by Sarah M. at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you are a perinatal professional or advocate on the East Coast, you should know about this FREE day-long workshop near Baltimore:

"Beyond the Blues: Identifying and Treating Depression During and After Pregnancy" is set for Thursday, October 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Northwest Hospital Center in Randallstown, Maryland.

Lunch is included, and CEU's are available. The guest faculty is Shoshana Bennett, Ph.D., past president of Postpartum Support International (PSI) and author of Beyond the Blues.

The event is co-sponsored by PSI of Maryland and SaferMaternity, as an outreach of the Mental Health Association of Maryland, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The event is being held in support of "Healthy New Moms," Maryland's statewide campaign to end depression during and after pregnancy.

Posted by Sarah M. at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University is offering a new Professional Development online seminar, "Research Issues for Mental Health Consumers/Survivors."

The basic concepts, terms, and procedures of research are outlined in this seminar, which "will help participants to become aware of the various roles consumers/survivors can play in a research study, and their rights in the research process." This increased awareness "will allow participants to better understand the research studies that consumers/survivors are involved in, as well as the research study results."

Successful participation in this online seminar earns 10 Professional Development Program (PDP) hours, which may be used for continuing education purposes.

For more info, click here. You can also contact Sue McNamara by email: suemac (at) bu (dot) edu.

Posted by Sarah M. at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)