Maternity Mental Health & Narrative Therapy

Greetings Stewards, 

Happy New Year! With harsh winter weather finally upon us, we hope that you are doing well and taking care of yourselves! Over the past two years, our PAHS blog has shared articles on various aspects of mental health–for example, mental health in the elderly, or  resources on how to improve your mental health. And today we’d like to share a resource on maternal mental health and the role of narrative in protecting and improving it..

An article by Psychology Today, describes what pregnancy related mental health entails along with sharing specialists and the process of narrative therapy maternal mental health care. According to the article, 600,0000 women suffer from maternal-related mental health issues in the United States. It is vital that maternal mental health be properly assessed and treated, since “peripartum psychiatric complications not only affect the mother, but are associated with mother-child bonding complications.” In the end, these issues create further risk factors for both the mother and child. 

We are fascinated to learn that one process specialists have seen success with is called “the peripartum narrative process.” Jessica Petit, a Massachusetts-based mental health counselor and perinatal mental health specialist, found her calling for this area when she struggled with her own mental health after experiencing postpartum depression. Using the peripartum narrative process, Petit was able to create a collection of 16 stories from women and their traumatic birthing experiences called, A Woman's Journey: Postpartum Healing (2023). According to the article, “the stories capture the experiences of women with peripartum depression, anxiety, psychosis, and PTSD, those with stillborn children, miscarriages, stresses of in vitro fertilization, and even postpartum struggles with substance abuse.” 

We would love to hear your thoughts on the full article on our platform, Circle. Last November, our speaker, Andrea Eisenburg, also talked about maternal health and narratives.

Do you have thoughts on maternal mental health, or a story to share? How could we as a whole bring more attention to this area of health? 

Warmly, 

Asheanna