Perinatal Mental Health Community Responders Training

The Perinatal Mental Health (PMH) Community Responders training equips participants to recognize the risks and symptoms of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) in the context of cultural, systemic, and historical factors on perinatal health (including social determinants of health) that can affect a parent’s ability to access care. This training also provides concrete tools for culturally affirming and healing-informed support for those experiencing or at risk of developing PMADs, including during crisis, with a focus on Black perinatal people and nonbirthing parents.

Made possible through a generous grant from Perigee Fund, all 50 participants (per session) will attend at no cost, removing financial barriers and ensuring this life-saving training reaches those who need it most.
Key Topics Covered

• Matrescence: the physiological and psychological transition to parenthood
• Overview of all PMADs, including depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and psychosis
• Racial disparities in perinatal mental health: data, causes, and community impact
• The Superwoman Schema and cultural expressions of distress in Black women
• The impact of PMADs on fathers and non-birthing parents
• Healing-informed and trauma-informed care principles
• Culturally affirming communication and support strategies
• De-escalation and crisis intervention techniques
• Self-care for providers: managing secondary trauma and compassion fatigue
• Community advocacy, policy literacy, and navigating parental rights

Learning Objectives

• Upon completion, participants will be able to:
• Recognize common signs and symptoms of PMADs in perinatal persons and non-birthing parents alongside the impact of cultural, systemic, and historical inequities on access to care.
• Identify examples of culturally affirming and healing-informed support to parents experiencing PMADs or at risk of developing PMADs during pregnancy and postpartum.
• Recognize examples of stigma associated with PMADs and strategies for educating community members about PMADs.

Who Should Attend

• Community health workers and peer support specialists
• Frontline health care team members (physicians, nurses, therapists, etc.)
• Doulas, midwives, and birth workers
• Faith leaders and community advocates
• Social workers and case managers
• Family members and trusted community members
• Beauticians, barbers, estheticians, business owners, etc.
• Anyone passionate about maternal mental health equity

Policy on Disclosures to Learners
Mamatoto Village strives to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of its educational programs. All planners, faculty members, moderators, discussants, panelists, and presenters participating in this program have been required to disclose any real or apparent financial relationship that may have a direct bearing on the program's subject matter. This includes relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or other corporations whose products or services relate to the presentation topic. The intent of this policy is to identify openly any financial relationship so that the attendees may form their own judgments about the presentation with full disclosure of the facts. In addition, faculty are expected to openly disclose any off-label, experimental, and/or investigational uses of drugs or devices in their presentation.

Disclosure statement

During the past 24 months, the following planning committee members, moderators, and speakers have no financial relationship with an ineligible company that might potentially be bias or impact the content of the educational activity/session.

Names of the planners/moderators/speakers
Dr. Aza Nedhari, Dr. Nikia Grayson, Dr. Amr Madkour, Nia Kilimanjaro, Dara Ogunsakin

Continuing Education Credits

• This activity has been submitted to the American Public Health Association (APHA) for approval to award contact hours. The APHA is accredited as an approver of nursing continuing education professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
• This activity has been submitted to the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC) for approval to award CEUs.
• The session will be for 4 contact hours.