Welcome to our ever-growing Alliance for perinatal mental health!

The Perinatal Mental Health Alliance of NL (PMHANL) aims to enhance awareness and promote care and supports for perinatal mental health across the province.

NL Health Services Launch Midwifery Program in Eastern-Rural

On July 25th, 2024, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Health Services announced the official launch of the midwifery program in Carbonear, NL. Midwifery services will be implemented in a phased approach with initial services, including postpartum and prenatal care, cervical cancer screening and other sexual/reproductive health services, beginning on August 5, 2024. An expansion of services is planned for February 2025.

“Midwives are primary care providers who care for pregnant, labouring and postpartum individuals and their newborns and provide prenatal and postpartum education", shares Sarah Donnelly Harnum, Registered Midwife and PMHANL Board Member.

Beginning August 5, 2024, individuals can be referred by a healthcare provider or can self-refer by calling 709-945-5517. For more information, check out the link below to the full press release:

CBC News:

After losing their first child, The Gouldings, a family of Newfoundland & Labrador, advocate for improving the province's perinatal mental health care, specifically for perinatal loss.

Perinatal mental health providers and PMHANL Board Members, Dr. Archana Vidyasankar and Karen Clarke, emphasize the urgent need for enhanced perinatal mental health services. They stress the need for expanded public mental health services to ensure comprehensive and accessible support for all parents during the perinatal period and highlight the importance of early intervention and continuous care.

"There's large gaps in terms of overall asking of how we're doing in pregnancy and postpartum in terms of mental health, and then if we do, we're challenged with where to go and where the services are after that," Dr. Vidyasankar told CBC News.

To read the full article, see the link below:

Postpartum International (PSI) Online Support Meetings

Did you know? PSI Offers over 50+ different perinatal mental health support groups online. Best part is, all virtual groups are free.

Not sure what to expect?

Support groups are 90 minutes (1.5 hours) in length. The first ~30 minutes is providing information, education, and establishing group guidelines. The next ~60 minutes is “talk time,” in which group members share and talk with each other. Group members must be present for the group guidelines before joining in the discussion or “talk time.”

Have a look at the list of various support groups to see if one best meets your needs or your experiences.

Registration and group offerings can be found in the link below:

The Marcé Society Conference - September

Join the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health for their 4-day conference, taking place in September 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. This conference is intended for all persons interested in improving perinatal mental health outcomes.

Date: Sept 4-7th, 2024

Location: Barcelona, Spain

The Marcé Society Shares:

Our theme, “Advancing Perinatal Mental Health: Bridging Familial, Cultural and Geographic Contexts (It’s a small world!),” exemplifies our goals for our upcoming conference to be inclusive and diverse-both in terms of defining who the perinatal time-period applies to and our definition of “family.” Further, we are striving to bring together diverse viewpoints from both cultural and geographical perspectives with an emphasis on international themes. We hope our conference will provide an exciting and supportive forum to discuss perinatal mental health from an international perspective and contribute to our collective efforts to elevate perinatal mental health care worldwide.
 

More information can be found through the link below:

The Perinatal Mental Health Conference - October 2024

Join The Perinatal Collective, a Canadian Organization, for their 3-day virtual conference, taking place in October 2024. This conference is intended for Professionals who care for individuals in the perinatal period, to feel more prepared and skilled to care for their mental health.

Date: October 22-24th 2024 (3-Day Event)

Location: Entirely Virtual

At this conference, you will have the opportunity to hear from local experts and advocates in the field of perinatal mental health, as they share their insights and experiences.

Busy Schedule? No problem. The conference will offer a mix of "Daily Releases" that include seminars and mini sessions, accessible for 24 hours (or up to 6 months with the extension pass) to meet your schedule needs. The conference also includes Live Daily Sessions with keynote presentations and interactive workshops, which will be recorded if you are unable to join the live event.

You can expect:

• 20+ Seminars With Global Leaders In Perinatal Mental Health

• 30+ Mini-Sessions With Hyper-Focused & Niched Conversations

• 3+ Live Workshops To Explore Professional Growth

• Extended Conference Access Available

• Opportunity To Fulfill Continuing Education Requirements

• Community Building With Perinatal Professionals

More information, including the waitlist to be first to hear about registration, can be found through the link below:

Do you or your team have an event coming up related to Perinatal Mental Health? Let us know! We would love to share more updates from our community on our website and through newsletter! Email pmhanlconnect@gmail.com with your information.