J Proactive

Did you know that both men and women can experience mental health challenges during pregnancy and postpartum? It’s really a thing. This interview (aired on Dec 16, 2019) was so informative! Eliana Husynni is a Registered Nurse from Toronto, Canada, who specializes in obstetrical women and infant care. She has prior experience in high risk pregnancies and currently works as a postpartum nurse at a large high risk OB hospital in downtown Toronto. Through her experience in the hospital, Eliana has seen many women in various stages of pregnancy with various mental health and emotional needs. As the title says, pregnancy often has a happy ending, however it isn't always a happy journey before and after. Eliana has also seen how these challenges effect the partner even if it doesn’t effect the mommy.

Living with the grief of an infant or a lost pregnancy can be so isolating when its not something normally talked about. Since it's not a common table conversation, people do not realize how many people around them have also suffered with loss. But if according to the world health organization 2.6 million babies are stillborn per year and 1 in 4 women will experience a miscarriage at some point in their life, you can be sure that you are often sitting across the dining room table, socializing with someone who has been there. In this #mentalhealthmonday (originally aired on February 10th, 2020) Yonina Kaufman shares about the effects of this type of grief on parents and families, and what we can do as a community to help break stigmas and alleviate some of the shame and isolation that many people are suffering with in silence. Yonina specializes in helping women and couples who experience(d) perinatal and infant loss, infertility, perinatal or postpartum mood and anxiety disorders. Yonina is trained in maternal mental health, grief and bereavement, trauma, and parent training. While using evidenced based approaches, Yonina is there to help clients untangle their thoughts and feelings, while they go through their grieving, mourning, and/or parenting journey. As the Clinical Coordinator for @atimehug , Yonina is fortunate to support women and couples experiencing perinatal and infant loss. In Yonina’s private practice, she continues to do more of the same. Additionally, Yonina provides clinical supervision for therapists and social work interns, as well as conduct parenting classes for parents with children of all ages and stages. Project Proactive is a grassroots volunteer initiative to educate the community, raise awareness, normalize the conversation, and break stigmas surrounding all things mental health. In order to further these goals, @project_proactive hosts weekly live interviews on Instagram with various mental health professionals, organizations, and people who have important stories to tell. Follow us on Instagram to find out about upcoming topics or to get more involved. You can also find more resources on our website, www.jproactive.com

Lisa Abramson talks about postpartum depression and psychosis -- and her own descent into Lisa is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Mindfulness Based Achievement (MBA) who has dedicated her life to inspiring others to achieve success in an entirely new way. Her corporate and individual programs teach high leaders how to "Lean In" without burning out. Her MBA curriculum has been taught to hundreds of women and men, as well as at Google, The Stanford Graduate School of Business, LinkedIn, StubHub!, Airbnb, Goldman Sachs, Schwab, YouTube, BrightRoll, Castlight Health, Bain & Co. and many others. Lisa graduated Magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN and lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Preview of 13-minute video produced by Postpartum Support International. Available through www.postpartum.net. Helps reassure and educate new mothers, family and helpers. The poignant stories in the video are complemented by up-to-date information from three experts in the field. https://www.postpartum.net/resources/psi-educational-dvd/

A discussion on what makes infertility a risk factor for Postpartum mood issues. --- Our mission is to promote awareness, prevention, and treatment of maternal mental health issues related to childbearing in Georgia. https://psiga.org/ Postpartum Support International (PSI) is a worldwide non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness among public and professional communities about the emotional changes that women experience during pregnancy and postpartum. On a local level, it is the vision of PSI Georgia (PSIGA) that every woman and family throughout the state will have access to information, social support, and informed professional care to deal with mental health issues related to childbearing.

UC San Diego Health System Psychiatrist Katie Hirst discusses the warning signs of depression and anxiety in new and expecting moms. She says that almost all women who have these conditions can benefit from talk therapy and a smaller percentage are also helped with different drugs. Dr. Hirst also discusses the controversial topic of taking antidepressants and other drugs during pregnancy.

Postpartum Support International presents an interview with Dr. David Levine, survivor of paternal postpartum depression. Video by Plante Grande.

Sharon Gerdes, Vice President of Postpartum Support International, tells how PSI gave her the courage to speak publicly about her postpartum psychosis.