Maternal Mental Health NOW

Connecting all pregnant and postpartum families to mental health care while addressing the systemic barriers that limit access and resources for Black and Hispanic, lower income, and LGBTQ+ communities demands a multifaceted approach. Maternal Mental Health NOW takes a comprehensive approach to transforming perinatal mental healthcare across LA County. We empower birthing people with culturally responsive mental health support, advocate for community-led solutions, and uplift the birthworker workforce.  

Maternal Mental Health NOW’s SANA SANA perinatal peer support project aims to reduce stigma, relieve symptoms, and help birthing people struggling with mental health and/or emotional challenges during pregnancy and/or postpartum period across Los Angeles County navigate the perinatal mental health care system.

The overall goal of our project is to improve recognition and response to perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in medical settings in the safety net. We will do this by implementing a model of collaborative perinatal mental health care in 3 FQHCs, evaluating its effectiveness and creating a best practice guide. We will address other barriers to identification and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders by facilitating stigma-reduction workshops in the communities surrounding the sites.