Tagged With "Boston Medical Center"
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Release of 2018 In-Hospital Breastfeeding Data [cdph.ca.gov]
By California Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, October 2, 2019 The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Center for Family Health is pleased to announce that the 2018 in-hospital breastfeeding data have been posted to the CDPH In-Hospital Breastfeeding Initiation Data website . We encourage all hospitals to utilize these data to integrate Quality Improvement (QI) efforts within the perinatal unit to ensure policies and practices are supportive of...
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[Repost] Trauma-informed Care: It Takes More Than a Clipboard and a Questionnaire
California is about to launch an ambitious campaign to train tens of thousands of Medi-Cal providers to screen children and adults up to age 65 for trauma, starting on January 1, 2020. It is well-established that the early identification of trauma and providing the appropriate treatment are critical tools for reducing long-term health care costs for both children and adults. Research has shown that individuals who experienced a high number of traumatic childhood events are likely to die...
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Shasta Health Center Screening Parents for ACEs
Shasta Community Health Center The trust that many families feel for their child's doctor makes the primary care setting an essential place to screen for ACEs and begin the conversation with caregivers about potential risks to their child's health and well-being. Their experience has shown that when risk is identified and assessed early on, there is a better chance of offering interventions that prevent long-term health and behavioral problems. Screening for ACEs is also an opportunity to...
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Some 350 Florida Leaders Expected to Attend Think Tank with Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study; Expert on ACEs Science
Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...
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Suffering in Silence Mood Disorders Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women of Color
Pregnancy and childbirth can bring joy and fulfillment to a woman's life. They can also bring anxiety, depression, and stress. If left untreated, postpartum depression and other mood disorders can grow severe and even fatal for both the mother and her child. The American Psychological Association estimates that 1 in 7 women experience postpartum depression, yet the true statistic is unknown, as most women do not recognize the symptoms associated with the condition. 1 According to the World...
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The Developing Brain & Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Thanks to an explosion in scientific research now possible with imaging technologies, such as fMRI and SPECT, experts can actually see how the brain develops. This helps explain why exposure to adverse childhood experiences can so deeply influence and change a child's brain and thus their physical and emotional health and quality of life across their lifetime. The above time-lapse study was conducted over 10 years. The darker colors represent brain maturity (brain development). I have added...
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The Hello It’s Me Project comes to Pittsfield: Dr. Claudia Gold at the helm of initiative to create healthy bonds between parents and infants (www./theberkshireedge.com)
Cissy's note: I am a huge fan of the way @Claudia Gold works with those of us Parenting with ACEs . The first time I read her writing I relaxed. She was speaking with and for parents not about or at us. Unfortunately, her approach is rare. Fortunately, she just launched a new project she's been dreaming of for years. I love the way she supports all families and how she centers the role of all parents in the lives of all children - especially those - not all except those...
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The Relentless School Nurse: The Text Message No Parent Wants to Get - An Active Shooter is at School
Many blog readers know that my niece Carly is a survivor of the Parkland shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. You may know that my father also survived a mass murder, and like Carly, hid in a closet until the police arrived. Almost 70 years separated the two tragedies. Our guest blogger this week is my sister Merri, Carly's mom. Merri shares her first-hand account of what happened the afternoon of February 14, 2018, when Carly sent this text, “Mom don’t freak out but we are on...
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This Psychologist Is Changing The Face Of Therapy For Black Women [HUFFPOST]
[DFINNEY PHOTOGRAPHY] J oy Harden Bradford, an Atlanta-based therapist who founded the mental health platform Therapy for Black Girls , is an advocate for black women’s well-being. The founder of the website Therapy for Black Girls is working to empower black women to make their mental health a priority. Slowly but surely, mental health has moved from the sidelines to the center of our national conversation around well-being. But discussing feelings and emotions is still a touchy subject in...
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Through a Trauma Lens: The Need for Doulas
Trigger warning: trauma, doctors, hospital, birth, sex It is very important to me to approach all of the work that I do from a trauma-informed perspective. Whether it is asking for consent before touching a student in yoga class, offering self-regulation skills to those I work with, or preparing clients for potential triggers*, I do my best to incorporate my on-going learning in the field of trauma into my professional practices. Recently, I began taking trauma classes for professionals...
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Uninsured Native Americans Often Lack Needed Prenatal Care [ocregister.com]
By Yesenia Amaro and Deepa Bharath, Center for Health Journalism News Collaborative, October 4, 2019 For almost two years, Sylvia Valenzuela relied on the federal Indian Health Service system to get the primary care she needed. But when she had to see an OB-GYN for her prenatal care, she was on her own. What followed, she said, was a nightmare in which she struggled to obtain and keep Medi-Cal coverage, leaving her uninsured for a critical stretch of her pregnancy. Valenzuela says she would...
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Violence, Drugs, Mental Illness May Account for Half of Maternal Deaths [PsychCentral.com]
Intimate partner violence, substance use and mental illness may be as threatening to health and survival during pregnancy as medical issues, according to a new study. In the study, researchers from the Boston University Medical Center note that mortality rates for pregnant women are increasing in the U.S. Many are due to medical causes thought to be directly related to pregnancy, such as hemorrhage, thromboembolism and hypertensive disease. Although substance use, serious mental illness and...
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‘We are just destroying these kids’: The foster children growing up inside detention centers [Washington Post]
Photo credit and caption: Heard leaves the courtroom at the Boone County Courthouse in Madison. He hopes to train to be a tattoo artist. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) Dec. 30, 2019 Though he's never been convicted of a crime, Geard Mitchell spent part of his childhood in a juvenile detention center, at times sleeping on cement floors under harsh fluorescent lights left on through the night during lockdowns. He attended high school by clicking through online courses and had “no one to...
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WEBINAR - NPPC's Pilot Site Case Studies: Lessons Learned from ACEs Screening Implementation
The Center for Youth Wellness' National Pediatric Practice Community on ACES (NPPC) is a co-designed community committed to collaborative learning. To promote this learning, we have been working with six pilot sites over the last year, representing practices of various sizes and service delivery settings, to implement ACEs screening and intervention. On Monday, December 2nd at 1pm PT , we will be holding a webinar to discuss the findings of these pilot site case studies. Please register...
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What a Pediatrician Can Do for a Child Seeking Asylum-And What She Can't [newyorker.com]
By Rachel Pearson, The New Yorker, October 8, 2019 On a cool spring afternoon, in a clinic that serves refugee and immigrant families, I sit across from a teen-age girl. She is otherwise known as an unaccompanied alien child, or U.A.C. She left her home in Central America, crossed the southern border, and was detained for a week—in Texas, she thinks—in a facility where breakfast was a cold bean burrito, lunch was a cup of microwavable noodle soup, and dinner was a cold bean burrito. She says...
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How It Feels & How We Heal: Parenting with ACEs Chat Quotes (You Tube, Database, PDFs, Links)
Parenting with ACEs is sharing inspiration, information, and expertise from our chat series in 3 formats. Parenting with ACEs: How It Feels & How We Heal Quote Collection (pdf version below as well) Quotes Database (pdf version below as well) Links to Chat Transcripts and before and after-the-chat blog posts. Thanks to everyone who showed up, who shared, and who is doing the important work that is our mission (prevent ACEs, heal trauma, build resilience). We know that work happens...
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Hunger Moves to the Suburbs [sfchronicle.com]
By Tara Duggan, San Francisco Chronicle, November 4, 2019 Most people think of people lining up at food pantries and soup kitchens as an urban phenomenon. But in Alameda County, which has one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the Bay Area, an increasing number of people living in the suburbs are also having trouble affording food. That includes Livermore, a city in the Tri-Valley area that’s better known for its wineries. “When people think of homelessness and poverty, they don’t...
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INVITE: Mental Wellness Micro Healing Pop-up -- Mental Health Awareness Day - May 10
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Day , please stop by our Trauma Transformed Healing Pop-up at the T2 Center in Oakland, CA. WHEN: Thursday, May 10th TIME: 12:00pm – 4:00pm WHERE: Trauma Transformed Center, 1035 22nd Avenue, #14, Oakland, CA. Please consider carpooling as parking is limited at times. WHAT: Healing and wellness activities DIY crafting "Spa" inspired snacks and drinks And more! Drop in and stay as long as you like between 12-4pm. RSVP: ...
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Lesson learned integrating ACEs science into health clinics: Staff first, THEN patients
Nearly two years ago, a team of colleagues at LifeLong Medical Clinics jumped at the opportunity to integrate practices based on ACEs science to prevent and heal trauma in their patients when it joined a two-year learning collaborative known as the Resilient Beginnings Collaborative (RBC). A few months after training began, the staff realized they had to put on the brakes.
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Medicaid can vastly improve maternal health, study [Modern Healthcare]
Expanded access to Medicaid was associated with 1.6 f ewer maternal deaths per 100,000 women compared with states that didn't expand the program, according to a new study. The i nfant death rate also fell more dramatically in Medicaid expansion states—by more than 50% from 2010 to 2016. Those findings were in a report released Wednesday by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Researchers found that expansion states saw greater drops in the uninsured rate among women...
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My son was hospitalized and now he has PTSD
“Grant, do you remember when you were in the hospital?” “Yes… they came to take the blood and I turned into a werewolf.” Original Post It happened quickly. A year ago my three year old had a collarbone fracture, it became infected and within 24 hours the situation was emergent. A week long hospital stay, one month with a PICC line and two months on oral antibiotics. Finally, the labs finally came back normal. The X-Ray was clean. Gillette Children’s Hospital closed our case. But the healing...
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New Resource Center Dedicated to Helping Providers Address the Health Effects of Trauma
The new Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center offers a one-stop information hub for health care providers and other stakeholders interested in learning about and implementing trauma-informed care.
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No ACEs, low resilience worse than high ACE and resilience scores, study finds
What does measuring resilience tell us about pregnant women who have experienced ACEs? For one thing, it affirms that understanding how a mom-to-be weathers difficult experiences gives greater meaning to her ACE score and what it might mean for her children. That was one of the takeaways from a recent study in the Journal of Women’s Health entitled “ Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mental and Behavioral Health Conditions During Pregnancy: The Role of Resilience ,” says Dr. Carey Watson,...
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Nobel Winner’s Research Shows Home Nurse Visits for New Moms Boost Children’s Cognitive Skills [The74Million.org]
When medical professionals make home visits to first-time mothers, their children’s cognitive skills and socio-emotional development improve, reports a new paper authored by acclaimed economist James Heckman. The study is the latest evidence from the Nobel Prize winner that such initiatives, while benefiting children of both genders, make a greater impact on boys. Heckman’s research focuses on one of the first implementations of the Nurse-Family Partnership, a home visitation program that...
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Nominate a Trauma-Informed Care Champion: #TICchampion
Becoming a trauma-informed organization requires clear communication about the transformation process, and support from staff at all levels of an organization. Often these efforts are spearheaded by “trauma-informed care champions”— individuals committed to raising awareness regarding the health effects of trauma and toxic stress and improving care for people who have experienced trauma. This week, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) invites you to recognize people around you who...
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NPPC shares lessons learned and results from ACEs screening pilot sites
For Dr. Mercie Digangi, a pediatrician at Kaiser Southern California in Downey, CA, ACEs screening provided a crystal clear before-and-after in how she changed treatment plans for her pediatric patients, she explained to attendees of a December 2 webinar organized by the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC) and cosponsored by ACEs Connection. Dr. Mercie Digangi One case that turned ACEs screening into a never-go-back moment for her was a three-year-old who was speech-delayed.
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Parental Depression and Its Impact on Child and Family Well-Being [CANTASD]
Parental Depression and Its Impact on Child and Family Well-Being On March 9, 2018, The National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center ( CANTASD ) hosted a Digital Dialogue with Jessica Dym Bartlett, the Deputy Program Area Director for Early Childhood Development & Child Welfare at Child Trends . The conversation focused on the impact of parental depression on child and family well-being . This [ ARTICLE ] document summarizes the conversation...
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Peer Program Uses Writing as a Tool for Trauma Recovery
For the past several years, a small yet dedicated group of writers has gathered at Pathway’s Peer Support Program in Ashland, Ohio to explore ways to use writing for overcoming life’s challenges, healing from trauma and adversity and building social connections with others. Tapestry of Our Lives is the result of their hard work. The writings in this anthology are rooted in adverse life experiences and childhood trauma, such as physical, sexual or psychological abuse or severe neglect.
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Petaluma Health Center leads effort to link women to services
Sonoma County was one of six sites selected nationally to participate in a CityMatCH practice collaborative to prevent substance exposed pregnancies. In 2012 Rebecca Munger CNM, PHN the Sonoma County Maternal, Child, Adolescent Health Coordinator lead a broad coalition of reproductive health champions who worked across sectors and settings to develop a trio of strategies to reduce substance exposed pregnancies. The first strategy developed with CDC and WHO technical support was a bundled...
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Positive Relationships Can Buffer Childhood Trauma and Toxic Stress, Researchers Say [bostonglobe.com]
By Kay Lazar, The Boston Globe, October 15, 2019 Traumatic events and toxic relationships during childhood can cast long shadows, often damaging mental health well into adulthood. But a growing body of research suggests sustained, positive relationships with caring adults can help mitigate the harmful effects of childhood trauma. And specialists say pediatricians, social workers, and others who work with kids should take steps to monitor and encourage those healthy relationships — just as...
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Practicing Psychiatry During a Coronavirus Pandemic (MGH Center for Women’s Mental Health)
By MGH Center for Women’s Mental Heath, April 7, 2020. As mental health providers, most of us are not on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, we are feeling the ripples. Given the magnitude of this crisis and its significant impact on so many aspects of our everyday lives, it is likely that this experience will leave an indelible imprint on our psychological well-being for years to come. In an editorial in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry , Dr. Marlene Freeman, associate...
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Preventable trauma in childhood costs north America and Europe US$ 1.3 trillion a year [WHO]
By World Health Organization (photo by WHO/Malin Bring) The findings of a new study on the life-course health consequences and associated annual costs of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) show that preventable trauma in childhood costs north America and the European Region US$ 1.3 trillion a year. The article, published in the Lancet and co-authored by Dinesh Sethi and Jonathon Passmore, Programme Manager, Violence and Injury Prevention, WHO/Europe, looks at the legacy of ACEs and their...
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What Is Postpartum Depression? Recognizing The Signs And Getting Help [npr.org]
By Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, January 28, 2020. Shortly after she gave birth to her son last May, Meghan Reddick, 36, began to struggle with depression. "The second I had a chance where I wasn't holding [my son], I would go to my room and cry," says Reddick, who lives with her son and husband. "And I probably couldn't count how many hours a day I cried." Reddick is among the many women who suffer from depression during pregnancy and after childbirth . "There's this kind of myth that women...
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When Parents Fear "It's All My Fault"
Many of my colleagues in the field of early childhood mental health work with what are termed "high risk" populations. Children of drug addicted parents, victims of child abuse, and families in abject poverty. While the challenges these families face are daunting, I find myself feeling some envy for my colleagues whose clients are in such obvious distress that the need for intensive treatment of parent and infant is not in question. In my rural, small-town population things are not so clear.
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Whole People Series & Study Guide (www.pbs.org)
There's a fantastic five-part series, Whole People , done by PBS, " spotlighting the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) through personal and community stories. It explores the long-term costs to personal well-being and our society. While much work needs to be done, there are many innovative developments to prevent and treat ACES. We all play a role in becoming a whole people." It's amazing. The five topics covered are as follows: Childhood Trauma Healing Communities A New...
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World Premiere: Stress & Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, November 13, 2019 When the stress in your life just doesn’t let up, and it feels like you have no support to get through the day—let alone do everything you need to do to be the best parent you can be—it can seem like there’s nothing that can make it better. But there are resources that can help, and this kind of stress—known as “toxic stress”—doesn’t have to define your life. In this video, learn more about what toxic stress is, how it...
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New D'Achille center at West Penn wraps services around new moms struggling with depression [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
A variety of services for women with pregnancy-related depression is now available in a new facility at West Penn Hospital, the dream of a McCandless man who lost his wife to the condition and those he inspired who want individualized care available to every woman. West Penn patient Tishla Jones of Lincoln Place said she found herself feeling overwhelmed and distancing herself from others, including her older children, after the birth of her fourth child, now 10 months. She was referred by...
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Yolo County Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) 3 year proposed budget includes MMH and Trauma Informed Care for training!
Yolo County's progressive and collaborative nature once again allows for critical issues to be addressed and proposed for funding. Proud to be in Yolo and thanks to our Yolo County MHSA team and stakeholders for lifting up trauma informed care and Perinatal Mental Health as training needs! While the 3 year budget has not been approved, we are thrilled that these two topics have made it into the proposal under WET funds (Workforce, Education & Training!). As a stakeholder, you have a...
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Yolo Crisis Nursery: The power of partnership [davisenterprise.com]
Sara is a young, pregnant, single mom who didn’t know where to start. There were so many wolves at the door and she had no clue as to which one to take on first, or even if any of them could be driven away. Her toddler son had just been removed from another child-care center due to behavioral challenges. Without child care, Sara was on the brink of losing her job, which meant the family would be evicted from their apartment and forced to live on the streets. It seemed she had nowhere to...
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Call for Abstracts for NCHDV 2020 conference
The National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence (NCHDV) seeks submissions that highlight research reports, practice innovations, advocacy initiatives, educational advances, and/or community programs that address one or more aspects related to domestic/sexual violence, other forms of violence, and health. The Call for Abstracts (CFA) invites leaders working in the fields of health and domestic/sexual violence to present their work at the 2020 Conference. Submission Deadline: Monday,...
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CERCH: the connection between blood pressure and fear of deportation in women of Mexican origin
MCAH professor Kim Harley and Brenda Eskenazi of Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health (CERCH), and MCAH program head Julianna Deardorff co-authored a recent study in the Journal of the American Heart Association on the positive correlation between fear of deportation and increased blood pressure among women of Mexican origin. The study was highlighted in an article on cnn.com . Read the CNN article about the study here .
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CMS Issue Brief: Improving Access to Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities
In an ideal maternal health system, all women would have access to comprehensive, seamless medical care with links to behavioral, economic, and social supports. Additionally, they would be engaged with this system before, during, and after pregnancy. Across the United States, many women are not receiving care in this ideal system, and women in rural communities face unique challenges that make it harder for them to reach this ideal or any care at all in some cases. Because maternal health...
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Come Chat with Dr. Claudia M. Gold: An ACE-Informed Pediatrician
Date: July 11th Time: 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST Location: Parenting with ACEs Group , Online Flyer: Attached below. Please share. Dr. Claudia M. Gold has practiced general and behavioral pediatrics for 25 years and specializes in early childhood mental health. She is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Boston Infant-Parent Mental Health program, William James College, and the Austen Riggs Center where she is a Human Development consultant. Dr. Gold is author of the following...
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Comics Shed Light On The 'Scary Thoughts' That Can Come With Motherhood [HuffPost]
Maternal mental health expert Karen Kleiman is tackling the stigma of postpartum depression and anxiety, one comic at a time. Kleiman has a background in psychology and social work and is the founder of The Postpartum Stress Center, an institution based in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, that’s provided support to pregnant and postpartum women for 30 years. Collaborating with illustrator Molly McIntyre , Kleiman has released comics inspired by submissions to the center’s #speakthesecret campaign ,...
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Confronting depression, anxiety, Navy moms with new babies get help in Norfolk [Navy Times]
Kimberly Barnard-Bracey turned to a small group of women inside a room at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center on a recent weekday afternoon. "So what's the topic this week?" said Barnard-Bracey, a licensed clinical social worker. "What've you guys got going on?" Ashley Beer, holding her 7-month-old son, Travis, launched into a story of how she snapped at her husband recently — she was feeling overwhelmed as tasks like cleaning started to add up. "When my kid was that age, I couldn't even get out...
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Consequences of Military Sexual Trauma for Perinatal Mental Health: How Do We Improve Care for Pregnant Veterans with a History of Sexual Trauma?
Sharing our recent editorial which includes a call for TIC in maternity care: "Nevertheless, there are ways in which VA may be able to augment the maternity care pregnant veterans receive to empower and facilitate more trauma-informed approaches to obstetric care. These include investing in programs to ensure peer support, possibly through use of mobile health technology; facilitating collaboration with maternity care providers through provision of handheld/electronic maternity records...
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Dr. Gabor Maté & Full-Potential Parenting, Even When It Is Hard
Note: Allison Morris had dozens of experts in her summit series through Full-Potential Parenting. I took notes only on those by Donna Jackson Nakazawa , Gabe Maté and Sebern Fisher (coming later this month). Though the audios are no longer available, for free, they can be purchased for $100. or less (depending on the year), here. Forgive me for sounding like an advertisement, I don't know Allison personally. I am a huge fan of all parent-led resources and wish I discovered this series...
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Facing Postpartum Depression: The Honesty, Courage and Support It Takes to Seek Help for PPD
“Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able” – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the Yellow Wallpaper, 1892 It is wonderful to see the birth of a child greeted with warm enthusiasm and support. We celebrate the joy of a growing family, and the excitement of a new life. Relatives and friends often provide gifts and extra help. But for some new moms, motherhood brings on many complex emotions besides the happy ones. While we may greet a new baby with happiness and delight –...
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For Community Health Centers, a Hands-On Guide to Building Partnerships [chcf.org]
By Carlina Hansen, California Health Care Foundation, October 15, 2019 Before joining CHCF, I spent almost 20 years as executive director of the Women’s Community Clinic in San Francisco. In my time there, we forged some valuable partnerships to serve our clients and community, including our merger with another community health center, HealthRIGHT 360. It was during the merger process that I learned first-hand one of the biggest challenges to forging such partnerships — and it wasn’t what I...
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From Treatment to Healing: Inquiry and Response to Recent and Past Trauma in Adult Health Care [Institute of Women's Health]
Abstract: In 2015, a national working group developed and published a conceptual framework for trauma-informed primary care (Machtinger, Cuca, Khanna, Dawson-Rose, & Kimberg, 2015). Since that publication, there has been increasing recognition that childhood and adult trauma underlie and perpetuate many physical and behavioral health conditions seen in health care settings and that addressing trauma could fundamentally improve the experience and efficacy of care for both patients and...