One Size Does Not Fit All: Strategies to Promote Mental Wellness for Expectant and Parenting Families

Pittsburgh, PA US
April 1, 2022

Postpartum Pittsburgh is proud to present this opportunity for professionals in diverse specialties to gain knowledge in best treatment practices for perinatal women with mental health disorders.

Perinatal depression is a prevalent public health problem which affects at least 14.5% (1 out of 7) of new mothers, with two to three-fold higher rates in minority, single, and low-income mothers. The health of perinatal women is critical to shaping the physical, socio-emotional, and behavioral development of offspring. Many mothers go untreated due to lack of knowledge about how to identify perinatal mental illness as well as lack of knowledge about evidence-based treatments and preventive strategies in the perinatal period. Given the high prevalence, extensive impact, and complexity of treating perinatal mental health disorders, it is imperative to update and increase consistency in knowledge disseminated to practitioners who have contact with childbearing individuals, which not only includes therapists and psychiatrists, but also practitioners of primary care, obstetrics and gynecology, general adult psychiatry, pediatrics, as well as nurses and social workers in all these clinical settings. 

Structural racism has shaped the practice of medicine overall and particularly Obstetrics and Gynecology and Psychiatry. In the past year it has been highlighted that racism, not race, is the cause for increased pregnancy-associated morbidity and mortality in people of color. Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) occurs at rates 3-4-fold higher in black relative to white women and is 12-fold higher in some cities. While psychiatric illness and substance use disorders both contribute to and increase after pregnancy-associated morbidity, birthing people of color are often deterred from seeking and maintaining mental health care. For some, there is a distrust of the healthcare system because of past victimization and trauma, or fear that seeking treatment will be punitive, such as having their children removed from their care. There are myriad additional barriers, including lack of providers of color, lack of culturally relevant care, long wait times for mental health appointments, lack of childcare during appointments, lack of transportation, patient prioritization of more emergent problems in the family or home, the stigma of seeking out mental health services, high cost of care, and lack of health insurance. 

In Pittsburgh, like other communities, there is a need for broader anti-racism and implicit bias training and an ongoing commitment to said practices so that non-Black providers can deepen their understanding of how to deliver culturally responsive and trauma-informed mental health care. Improved cross-cultural and academic-private-community communication not only has the potential to improve the care that is already available, but it also has the potential to lead to new programmatic collaborations that leverage collective resources to make larger scale changes to mitigate the disproportionate morbidity and mortality in childbearing women of color. Pittsburgh has insufficient numbers of Black mental health practitioners. We know that patients fare better when their providers look like them; therefore, there is a critical need to partner with Black-led organizations in providing care for these groups of women and to contribute to opportunities for bringing more Black individuals into the pipeline to become perinatal mental health specialists.

Target Audience

The conference is designed to present current evidence-based information regarding perinatal mental health disorders, their impact, and treatment, to a professional audience: psychiatrists, primary care physicians, obstetrician-gynecologists, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, mental health clinicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, service coordinators, community health workers, policy administrators, students and trainees who work in the perinatal mental health space.

Learning Objectives

At the completion of the program, participants should be able to:

1. Have greater understanding of experiences of perinatal mental wellness in BIPOC populations as well as approaches to gaining trust and optimizing wellness
2. Have more knowledge about how to develop mental health partnerships with community organizations who serve perinatal populations of color.
3. Identify holistic approaches and evidence-based strategies to treat perinatal mental health disorders.
4. Identify resources and providers in Allegheny County that can treat perinatal mental illness and support maternal, infant, and family mental health.

Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 7.00 AAPA Category I CME
  • 7.00 ACPE Pharmacy
    The UPMC Center for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a Provider of continuing pharmacy education.
  • 7.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
    The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
  • 7.00 ANCC
    UPMC Provider Unit is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation
  • 7.00 ASWB
  • 7.00 Attendance
Course opens: 
01/14/2022
Course expires: 
12/31/2022
Event starts: 
04/01/2022 - 8:00am EDT
Event ends: 
04/01/2022 - 4:15pm EDT
Cost:
$1.00
Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center
100 Lytton Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
United States

COURSE FACULTY
Diana P. Byas, BSN, MSN, ACRN, CCM
Manager, Maternity Care Management ISDiv
UPMC Health Plan

Tracey Conti, MD
Chair Department of Family Medicine 
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
UPMC

Chaunda Cunningham, LSW
Director of Clinical Practice and Home Visiting
Healthy Start, Inc

Alecia Dawn Young, E-RYT, BFA, MAM
Founder
YOGAMOTIF

Dena M. Dunn, PsyD, IMH-E (IV-C)
Owner
Acorn Psychology, LLC
Instructor
University of Pittsburgh Department of Education

Stacy Freeman-Pistella MA, LPC, CAADC 
Health Manager, Health Plan
Magee-Womens Hospital’s
Pregnancy and Women’s Recovery Center

Jodie Hnatkovich, LPC, PMH-C, CPLC
Executive Director
Trauma and Grief Therapist
Forward Wellness Counseling and Consulting Services, LLC

Elizabeth Krans MD, MSC
Associate Professor
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences
Magee-Womens Hospital’s
Pregnancy and Women’s Recovery Center

Rachel Kolko Conlon, PhD
Research Instructor in Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Western Psychiatric Hospital of UPMC

Michele D. Levine, PhD 
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Principal Investigator
Perinatal Health and Behaviors Research Group
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Western Psychiatric Hospital of UPMC

Muffy Mendoza
Founder, Pittsburgh Brown Mamas

Eydie Moses-Kolko, MD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Western Psychiatric Hospital of UPMC
Staff Psychiatrist
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System

Tica Nickson
Director of Prevention
Emma’s Footprints 

Gloria J. Rodriguez-Ransom, LPC 
Infant Early Childhood Mental Health West Region Supervisor
The Pennsylvania Key

Sukanya Srinivasan MD, MPH
Faculty, UPMC McKeesport Family Medicine Residency
Director of Research and Scholarly Activity
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Ngozi Tibbs, MPH, IBCLC, LCCE, CHC, PN1, LU
Founder
Journey Lighter Coaching
Maternal and Child Health Educator, Lactation Consultant
Healthy Start, Inc

Courtney Utz, LPC , M.Ed, Ed.S
Program Director Maternal Infant Health Services
Women’s Behavioral Health
West Penn Hospital, Allegheny Health Network 

Johanna Vidal-Phelan, MD, MBA, FAAP
Senior Medical Director, Quality and Pediatrics
Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Dannai Wilson, MS
Program Manager
Allegheny County Health Department
Office of Family Child Health

Faculty Disclosure:
No members of the planning committee, speakers, presenters, authors, content reviewers and/or anyone else in a position to control the content of this education activity have relevant financial relationships with any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services, used on, or consumed by, patients to disclose.

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the University of Pittsburgh and Postpartum Pittsburgh. The University of Pittsburgh is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Physician (CME)
The University of Pittsburgh designates this live activity for a maximum of 7.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nursing (CNE)
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 7.0 contact hours.

Pharmacy (CPE)
This knowledge-based activity provides 7.0 contact hours of continuing pharmacy education credit.

Physician Assistant (AAPA)
The University of Pittsburgh has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 7.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.  

Licensed/Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists: LSW/LCSW/LPC/LMFT
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, University of Pittsburgh is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. University of Pittsburgh maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 7.0 continuing education credits.

Psychologists
Education and Consultative Services of UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists.  Education and Consultative Services of UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital maintains responsibility for this program and its content.  This program is offered for 7.0 continuing education credits. 

Postpartum Support International Perinatal Mental Health Certification (PMH-C)
Attendance at this conference is approved for 6 hours of advanced training toward the Perinatal Mental Health Certification through PSI.

Other health care professionals will receive a certificate of attendance confirming the number of contact hours commensurate with the extent of participation in this activity. 

Available Credit

  • 7.00 AAPA Category I CME
  • 7.00 ACPE Pharmacy
    The UPMC Center for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a Provider of continuing pharmacy education.
  • 7.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
    The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
  • 7.00 ANCC
    UPMC Provider Unit is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation
  • 7.00 ASWB
  • 7.00 Attendance

We gratefully acknowledge support from the following for this activity:

Educational Grant:
•    Sage Therapeutics, Inc.
Exhibitors:
•    Forward Wellness
•    Congruence Counseling
•    ACHD, WIC Department
•    Sage Therapeutics, Inc.

Price

Cost:
$1.00
Please login or register to take this course.

Registration Costs: On or before 3/11/22      After 3/11/22

Physicians:                     $200                       $250 

Professionals:                 $150                       $200

Students/Residents/Fellows:     $50              $75

Contact info is postpartumpgh@gmail.com

All cancellations must be in writing and sent to us via email (postpartumpgh@gmail.com).  Tuition for cancellations date stamped by March 25th 11:59pm will be refunded in full.  After March 26th 12:00am, no refunds will be made..

Participation by all individuals is encouraged. Advance notification of any special needs will help us provide better service. Please notify us of your needs at least two weeks in advance of the program by emailing postpartumpgh@gmail.com.