Perinatal e-News
Issue 55 | May  27, 2010

Symposium June 22
May Perinatal Depression Awareness Month Update
Healthcare reform
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Dear friends,

LA Best Babies Network is excited about its upcoming Healthy Births through Healthy Communities Symposium: Investing in Your Health. We hope you'll join us as we celebrate the achievements of the Healthy Births Initiative. Please read the details below.

Your friends at LA Best Babies Network
June 22 Healthy Births Symposium

Help us celebrate the Successes of the Healthy Births Initiative
by being part of our upcoming Healthy Births through Healthy Communities Symposium: Investing in Your Health!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010, from 8:00am - 4:30pm at

St. Anne's Conference Center
Foundation Room
155 N. Occidental Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA  90026
Directions

The theme, "Investing in Your Health," emphasizes the importance of personal health and wellness--your own, and that of the people you serve.

Participants have the option of earning 8.25 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for R.N.s, and 6.5 Continuing Education Contact Hours (CECH)  in health education.

Conference materials will be provided, and continental breakfast and lunch will be served.

Who Should Attend?
  • Members of the Healthy Births Care  Quality Collaborative, Best Babies Collaboratives, and Healthy Births Learning Collaboratives.
  • Policy Partners
  • Case Managers
  • Physicians
  • Midwives
  • Physician's Assistants
  • Nurses
  • Administrative Staff
  • CPHWs
  • Health Educators
  • Dieticians
  • Social Worker
  • Medical Assistants
  • Policy Advocates.
Registration is FREE, but space is limited, so please register by June 1st.

Download the Symposium Agenda

Download the registration form
Perinatal Depression Awareness Month Update
Speak Up When You're DownCuando se Sienta Deprimida
As reported in our previous newsletter, May is now officially Perinatal Depression Awareness month, an annual observance, throughout California and L.A. County, thanks to the passage of ACR 105 on April 22.

On May 3, members of the Los Angeles County Perinatal Mental Health Task Force traveled to Sacramento for the official launch and press conference, with the Resolution's author, Assemblymember Pedro Nava.

Members also attended a round table for key stakeholders hosted by the California Research Bureau. The Task Force discussed forming a state-wide Perinatal Mental health collaborative, modeled after the LA County Task Force.

And on May 4th, Task Force members  testified before the California Women's Legislative Caucus informational hearing, held in conjunction with the Assembly Health and Senate Health Committees.

Powerful testimony was given by Raul Martinez of Santa Monica, whose wife Kelly, a young mother and nurse, took her own life a few months ago, while suffering from postpartum psychosis, leaving behind their 3-month-old baby.

Perinatal depression is also the top priority for the president of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Gerald F. Joseph, Jr, MD. At this month's annual ACOG conference, he reiterated this commitment. "As ob-gyns, if we can focus more of our attention on the emotional and psychological health of our patients during pregnancy and postpartum, I believe our specialty can have a positive and significant impact on the overall health and well-being of women everywhere." 

Speak Up When You're Down maternal depression awareness campaign posters and brochures are now available for if you would like some for your organization or group.

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that about 10% of new fathers may suffer from postpartum depression.


Learn More:

Read Assemblymember Pedro Nava's press release

Watch Assemblymember Nava's press conference

Hear Task Force founder Kimberly Wong's statement at the press conference

Read the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health press release

Download the Speak Up When You're Down Poster or brochure in English and Spanish. If you would like printed copies, please send an e-mail to [email protected]

California Women's Legislative Caucus informational hearing video (begins at approximately 1:45 of the tape)

ACOG conference press release on perinatal depression

California Research Bureau Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorder (PMAD) Project Archive

Healthcare Reform and Perinatal Issues

ACOG has created a Health Reform web page devoted to how healthcare reform affects physicians and patients, particularly particularly as it relates to women's health and perinatal health care.