Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies

By: Jan Bogie

When the mom of a newborn tells you, “I’m fine. The baby is great,” do you believe her? Most people do. At the same time, one in five women struggle with mental health during their pregnancies or in the first year after the baby is born. Often, moms do not recognize their own symptoms and pass them off as “just motherhood.” Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are certainly not “just motherhood.” PMADs are also not “baby blues,” as “baby blues” only last about two weeks. Another important fact is that PMADs can happen during pregnancy, in the first year after birth, or both, so they are not solely a ‘postpartum’ experience. The good news is PMADs are treatable! There are many paths to mental wellness for perinatal women.

Some perinatal mental health issues require immediate intervention— particularly postpartum psychosis and moms experiencing suicidal urges. These are medical emergencies and need to be treated as such.

For other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, including depression, anxiety, perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder, and perinatal post-traumatic stress disorder, women can explore many treatment options that fit their needs. Some moms opt for traditional interventions, including therapy and medication. However, there are other options available that can help moms feel better, too!

Support groups give moms an opportunity to connect with other moms in a safe, non-judgmental way. In a support group, the members have a shared lived experience of not experiencing motherhood the way they imagined. Perhaps they have depressive symptoms, struggle with anxiety or compulsions, or feel like they are not “in love” with their baby. They might first seek out social media and are alarmed to find images and videos of other moms having “perfect, happy” relationships with their children or partners. This dissonance creates a sense of shame for new moms, and they are at risk of isolating.

Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies of Palm Beach County offers “Circle of Moms”— maternal mental health support groups to help any perinatal woman experiencing mental distress. Having support from others is a strong predictor of healing for perinatal moms. We invite pregnant and postpartum women to come to our support groups, listen to others, or talk about their feelings and thoughts. Women can come as much or as little as they need! They can attend in-person or virtually— whichever is best for them at this season of their lives. Our group facilitators are all trained in perinatal mental health.

In addition to facilitating the groups, the facilitators also provide one-on-one support and consultation to any group member. Our facilitators can help link these moms to other interventions when requested or needed. We honor that a mom who reaches out for help is an incredibly strong mom! We also recognize that moms can have mental health challenges AND be great moms!

It is no surprise that Mother’s Day is the same month as Mental Health Awareness Month, making it a logical month to share how important maternal mental health truly is. So next time you think a perinatal woman is “fine,” gently ask more. Listen more. Give her the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies group facilitator’s phone number to text or call at 561-517-1551. We will help her get well!

The Word is a broad topic space for contributing writers (a.k.a the community) to share your stories of behavioral health or anything self-care related i.e. fitness, health, educational, parenting, hobbies, wellness, etc. To contribute, send your article ideas to thewell@bewellpbc.org with “The Word” in the subject line.

By: Kylie Calderon pbcbirthto22.com/girls

Ilogged on to my first Girls’ Voice Task Force (GVTF) meeting almost a year ago. I had heard about the task force months prior from a Compass Community Center representative via a virtual book club meeting to discuss community opportunities for teenagers. However, I was still determining what to expect.

Upon signing up, I received monthly announcements about meetings and workshop spaces. Still, at that point in the very freshly post-lockdown world, I didn’t feel socially ready to meet new people I would only be seeing in one setting (and I was anxious about potentially and irrevocably embarrassing myself).

I read the announcements cautiously while wondering what it would be like to join the organization - Would I be the youngest member? What sorts of things would we discuss? What would the other members be like? Would they like me? Could I make friends out of this experience? How inclusive was this space of different perspectives?

Joining the first meeting in February of 2022, my anxieties were put to rest. Everyone was allowed to introduce themselves, we weren’t pressured to have our cameras or microphones on (which was a point of contention in the era of Zoom and Google Meet meetings), I felt instantly at ease with the coordinators and the other girls, and above all else, the advisors and coordinators had created a virtual community conducive to wonderful conversations.

I was in awe of the girls in my community and how insightful our discourse was. I learned about girls’ issues that I hadn’t known affected me before or hadn’t previously been able to identify. For the first time in a while, due to the pandemic putting everything on hold, I felt totally seen as a teenage girl in Palm Beach County, and more than that - I felt seen as a person and given the space and opportunity to offer my perspective on relevant issues.

Being a part of this organization has helped me immensely, primarily by giving me the freedom to have opinions on the things that affect my daily life. I won’t speak for all members, but I have grown more confident and empathetic alongside the other girls in the GVTF. I have learned invaluable lessons about myself and the community around me.

Before I joined the GVTF, I doubted I would have been mentally capable of considering the possibility of writing an article for a local publication. I would have been too anxious about making a horrible mistake, or my input would not have been valued. Now, equipped with the armory of mental tools that being a part of the GVTF has given me, I am much more capable and confident in my abilities. In addition, I have learned how to best advocate for myself and talk about the important things to me. The GVTF has helped me tremendously on my path to mental wellness!

The Girls Coordinating Council is a community collaborative focused on creating better outcomes and strengthening the system of care for girls in Palm Beach County. We are backed by Birth to 22 and have taken a data-driven approach to understanding the challenges and wellbeing of girls in our community.

If you or a girl you know would be interested in joining the Girls Voice Task Force, email: girlscoordinatingcpbc@gmail.com https://pbcbirthto22.com/girls/

The Fountain is a space for youth to share their point of view on things that matter to them. To contribute, send your article ideas to thewell@ bewellpbc.org with “The Fountain” in the subject line.

By: Center for Trauma Counseling

@centerfortraumacounseling

Center for Trauma Counseling was formed as a community-based Palm Beach County non-profit in 2012 with a singular focus; providing for our area’s most in-need residents with timely, easily accessible, affordable, quality mental healthcare. However, we soon realized that simply opening an office and becoming a provider was insufficient in filling the void in services for our target populations. This was due to the numerous barriers to care our clients face every day. Immediately, we began dismantling these barriers one by one.

Many of our friends and neighbors are unaware that 1 in 4 (379,300) Palm Beach County residents struggle with a treatable mental health issue and that thousands need assistance accessing care due to barriers such as low income, lack of insurance or underinsurance, barriers to transportation and language restrictions.

• Nearly 200,000 Palm Beach County residents live at or below the Federal Poverty Line

• 270,000 are uninsured

• 478,000 speak a language other than English

• Approximately 600,000 residents are transportation restricted, lacking access to regular, reliable personal transportation.

Tackling each of these barriers over the years, we successfully eliminated cost and lack of insurance by providing those who qualify for fully subsidized grant-funded services and offering those low-income, but not under the federal poverty line, a sliding fee scale plan. Additionally, we have addressed language barriers by diversifying our staff, ensuring our team of therapists fully represents the diverse makeup of our collective communities.

While these initial steps widely expanded access for many residents, a significant gap still existed for residents who struggle with daily transportation barriers. Many clients who wanted and began services but discontinued prematurely, cited the lack of regular, reliable daily transportation as the reason why. Because continuity of care is crucial in resolving trauma and mental health-related disorders, in 2019, we formulated a bold plan to remove transportation as a barrier to care by resolving to bring services to those who could not come to us.

In 2020, we purchased and customized a 40ft bus with two therapy rooms, including a play therapy room and intake area, Wi-Fi, computers, play therapy items, interior décor, and a custom exterior wrap. Utilizing our successful template of creating and leveraging mutually beneficial community partnerships, we cultivated partnerships with other local agencies that serve our target populations and became Mobile Hope Clinic host locations where services are provided on-site to their in-need clients. Bilingual Mobile Hope Clinic staff were secured, inter-agency referral processes were developed and Memorandum of Understanding agreements were executed.

The Mobile Hope Clinic officially became a path to wellness for our clients in May 2021 with our first community partner, the Palm Beach County Boys & Girls Clubs, at two locations in Boca Raton and Delray Beach. Additional partner locations in the flagship year included the Health Care District of Palm Beach County at the Lake Worth location and Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA) at their domestic abuse shelter.

Mobile Hope Clinic partnerships and services continued to grow in 2022, serving six community partners at ten locations throughout the county to in-need residents of all ages, from children to seniors. Since the program began, we have provided nearly 900 hours of free mental healthcare services to more than 150 new clients aboard the Mobile Hope Clinic.

By implementing innovative programs built through strong community partnerships, we actively resolve these barriers and expand access to care for thousands of Palm Beach County residents each year. Since 2012, we have grown from serving 100 residents in our first year to now providing services to over 1300 residents annually through our Avenues to Care system, in-office services, at community satellite locations, co-located therapists at Palm Beach County public schools, via telehealth and now aboard the Mobile Hope Clinic.

Our unique Avenues to Care system provides ALL Palm Beach County residents many paths to wellness regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, ability to pay, and now, whether or not they can come to us!

The Providers is a space for providers, practitioners, thought leaders, and systems change leaders to share. To contribute, send your article ideas to thewell@bewellpbc.org with “The Providers” in the subject line.