When I delivered my first baby in 2016, I did not understand how I would feel postpartum. Although I had many family members who had known the birth and postpartum before me, they did not share their challenges, their fears and their emotions. Their stories revolved around the requirements to take care of a newborn baby.
I fell into the same diagram. Like so many women in front of me, my own feelings have remained tacit. It was never me, Aisha. I did not know how common my difficulties were or how postpartum would feel.
Nine years and a few children later, I know that I was not alone. 1 in 8 women report symptoms of postpartum depression after birth and 1 of 5 Pregnant women or postpartum feel anxiety. The most surprising statistics: 65% The morbidity and mortality associated with pregnancy occurs during the postpartum period and are mainly caused by mental health problems.
Thanks to my role at the American Hospital Association, I attended changes in transformers and health systems are implementing to improve maternal mental health. They offer access to resources and create unique and personalized approaches for postpartum support to best meet the needs of their patients and their communities. And at AHA, we will continue to raise the importance of postpartum mental health so that no mother feels alone.
The role of hospitals in optimizing post-partum mental health Support
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zl_e-znasm
Hospitals can play a key role in the construction of holistic treatment and support for perinatal mental health disorders during this critical period. Last year, the Political Center for Maternal Mental Health And AHA cohossed a round discussion With leaders of the Red Baton Women’s Hospital, Louisiana, and the University of Colorado hospital to provide maternal mental health care. The panelists discussed the clinical and operational considerations of their programs as well as subjects ranging from respectful maternity care and multidisciplinary care based on the team supporting peers and integration with community partners.
Programming and practice
Women’s hospitalization program
The women’s hospital is the most recent of a handful of perinatal mental health treatment programs for hospitalized patients. Their perinatal mental health unit with 10 beds opened its doors in September 2024 and served 43 patients in mid-October. Their team specializes in the management of pregnant women at high risk and those who have suffered a loss of pregnancy, supporting women up to a year post-partum.
Patients receive team care from psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses practitioners, qualified nurses both in obstetric and psychiatric care, specialized mental health technicians, specialists in fetal medicine Kindergarten, Obgyn on site and lactation consultants. The unit also offers group therapy, which helps patients feel a feeling of support in shared experiences.
The women’s hospital has established partnerships with neighboring clinics and community organizations to extend the scope, raise awareness and collect resources to better support women when admitted. The objective is this integrated approach to help women strengthen the confidence of the hospital for hospitalized patients and ensure that they can access the support they need.
Medical Hospital of the University of Colorado Anschutz hospital, an intensive outpatient program
The healthy expectations of the University of Colorado, the program of ambulatory consultations with high intensity of mental health (IOP), provides care for people with mood disorders and moderate to severe perinatal anxiety or related conditions. The program offers a higher level of treatment than traditional ambulatory therapy. The IOP lasts nine hours a week on an eight-week study program, focusing on three key components: skills strengthening and adaptation strategies to manage mental health symptoms, promote parent attachment- secure child and develop wellness strategies and routines.
The program favors the connection of families to community resources which reduce isolation, promote connection and validate the challenges of parenting. Collaborations with local organizations, such as doula programs for people with substance consumption behavior, as well as community parental interventions, provide support beyond traditional maternal mental health support. The hospital also offers home visits, parental workshops and peers to ensure that families receive care that meets their unique needs and allows them to prosper.
Main to remember
The two hospitals have underlined the need to join in front line suppliers to strengthen their awareness of perinatal mental health needs and services. They need training to identify mental health problems and establish systems for references and follow -up with community specialists and resources, if applicable. Hospitals can also play a role in the supply of additional training clinicians, such as Training in the integration of behavioral health through the American Psychiatric Association.
Clinicians and mental health professionals in hospitals can register at the Mental Mental Health Center Training of maternal mental health certificate for mental health professionals and clinic professionals To acquire knowledge and ideas on strategies and interventions to increase awareness, screening and treatment of perinatal mental health conditions. Hospitals can also connect patients and their families to National Hotline of Mental Mental Health1-833-TLC-MAMA, which provides support and resources 24/7 per call or text to pregnant women and new mothers and their families. These resources help ensure that front -line providers have the necessary tools to meet mental health needs.
By normalizing conversations on mental health through the continuum of perinatal care, by making known its impact, by supporting obstetric suppliers to detect and educate and create new hospital treatment programs, we can create a culture where the news mothers feel empowered to ask for help and are supported when they do.
Aisha Syeda, MPH, senior program manager for AHA’s strategic initiatives
REGAN MOSS, MPH, POLICY AND PROGRAMMES Analyst with the Policy Center for Mother Mental Health