Reproductive Psychiatry: How C-L Psychiatrists Can Work to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Care Inequities

One in five perinatal individuals (pregnant or within 1 year of delivery) experience a mood or anxiety ‎disorder. These disorders adversely impact maternal, birth, infant and child outcomes and are a ‎leading cause of maternal mortality in the US. Despite these negative outcomes, less than 25% of ‎those screening positive for a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder are assessed or treated. As alarming ‎as this gap is, individual and structural racism leads to Black, Latina/o/x and Indigenous individuals ‎being even less likely to be screened or treated. Consultation-Liaison (CL) psychiatrists are ideally ‎situated to help address this and advance women’s mental health equity. This pre-conference course ‎will focus on women's mental health with a focus on health inequities, especially for populations ‎marginalized through racism.‎

We will present brief, easily digestible talks that provide an overview of high-impact topics in ‎reproductive psychiatry and women’s health that will directly inform clinical practice for CL ‎psychiatrists. An interactive, case-based format will be used to provide an overview of perinatal ‎depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, trauma-related disorders, and substance use disorders with an ‎emphasis on health inequities and how to address them in clinical practice. Each section will use a case ‎as an anchor and utilize pair-and-share, choral response, and other interactive tools for the most ‎effective teaching. Pre-recorded content will provide foundational knowledge which will be built upon ‎during the course. Attendees will leave with 1) a better understanding of women’s health and related ‎health inequities, 2) knowledge that can be applied to work with pregnant/postpartum women, and 3) ‎tools and skills that to facilitate proactively discussing and responding to racism, racial trauma and other ‎forms of oppression or marginalization. ‎

AGENDA
‎Introduction to the Pre-Conference and Health Inequities (20 min – DEEPIKA SUNDARARAJ)‎
Mood Disorders and Health Inequities in Perinatal Care (35 min – GUITELLE ST VICTOR)‎
Trauma-Related Disorders – Trauma Informed Care 101 – (35 min – MARRA ACKERMAN)‎

BREAK – 5 min‎

Trauma Informed Care Principles in Perinatal Care (35 min – JYOTI SACHDEVA)‎
Addressing Perinatal Substance Use Disorders in Communities that have been Marginalized (35 min – ‎DEEPIKA SUNDARARAJ)‎
LGBTQ+ Health Care – A Focus on Gender Affirming Perinatal Care (35 min – JAY OWENS)‎

BREAK – 5 min‎

Discussion (35 minutes)‎