Meeting Recap - January 10th, 2017

Welcome & Introductions
The January 10th meeting welcomed approximately 10 participants.  Thanks to those who joined us!


Resource Sharing

• Maryland Task Force to Study Maternal Mental Health.  
  Final Recommendations submitted to Governor Hogan, MD Senate President, Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates in December 2016.  Read the report at:  https://www.mhamd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SB0074_Ch6_2015-Task-Force-to-Study-Maternal-Mental-Health-Final-Report-w-Cover-Letter-and-Appendices.pdf
  
  
• ShareBaby:   https://www.sharebaby.org/
  Baltimore's first diaper bank! ShareBaby collects diapers, clothing, and other basic goods and distributes these items to families in need through community-based organizations. Director Eliseba Osore was interviewed recently on WYPR, having recently been awarded an Open Society Fellowship. With this support, Osore plans to expand + make long term sustainability plans for the program.  Listen to the WYPR story here: http://wypr.org/post/baby-pantry-provides-struggling-parents
  
  
• ​New Mothers’ Support Group(s) in Baltimore, at The Womb Room!
      https://womb-room.mom/
      *The Postpartum Circle -- Meets first and third Tuesday of each month, 4-5:30pm
      *Working Moms Support Group -- Meets second Monday of each month, 6-7pm
      *Motherless Moms Support Group -- Meets second Wednesday of each month, 8-9pm
      *Breastfeeding Support Group -- Meets Thursdays at 12noon. 
  The Womb Room also offers a variety of classes such as Infant massage, Prenatal Yoga, Mommy & Me Yoga, Parent/Toddler Yoga, Women’s Acupuncture Circle, and more.  Also offering workshops such as ‘Self-care for Birth Workers’, ‘Back to work for the Breastfeeding mom,’ Stepmom Support Group, and more.
  
  
• The Spring Project - http://springproject.org
  ​“The SPRING Project is designed to increase options for affordable, high-quality psychotherapy for mothers and their families experiencing prenatal or postpartum anxiety and depression. The project is an outreach initiative sponsored by the Contemporary Freudian Society, an interdisciplinary psychoanalytic member organization. The Project aims to increase links between primary care and health care providers working with new mothers so that vulnerable mothers are identified and more likely to get access to the mental health help they need. The fifty-plus network therapists participating are licensed mental health professionals with special training in the treatment of perinatal mood disorders. The Project offers help in New York City, Baltimore and the Washington, DC metropolitan areas."  Cynthia Mendelson, Ph.D. is the Baltimore Contact.  She is a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in Lutherville, Maryland.

2017 Planning
Input about days, times, format would be appreciated!  Additional meeting dates/ times for the first half of 2017:

• Thursday, March 9th       9-10:30 am
• Monday, May 15th           2-3:30 pm

Please mark your calendars, and share any suggestions you have for meeting dates, topics, speakers, etc.
Additional meeting dates and times TBD; please check the website.


Case Discussions
Case discussions highlighted the ongoing challenges of accessing timely reproductive-psychiatry care for pregnant/ postpartum women, and the intricacies of supporting mothers through perinatal loss and fertility struggles.  We also discussed new research and treatment initiatives in Baltimore and nationally.

**Please consider sharing at a future meeting about difficult/ interesting PMH cases you have worked with,
and/or general discussion topics relevant to your work with mothers.  If you are interested in presenting
info on a particular topic and/or leading a discussion, please let Sara know.  Thanks!***


                 -->  Next Study Group Meeting:  Thursday, March 9th, 2017  9:00-10:30AM   <--

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