Roundtable 2 of 2: Maternal Mental Health Support Programs and Solutions to Overcome Stigma

Paige Bellenbaum, LCSW, PMH-C

With over 25 years of experience working with marginalized communities and families, Paige Bellenbaum, LCSW, PMH-C has held senior leadership roles at organizations committed to improving social determinants of health including The Partnership for the Homeless, Habitat for Humanity, Settlement Housing Fund, and The Motherhood Center of New York.

After struggling with severe postpartum depression and anxiety following her son’s birth, Paige became a passionate advocate for maternal mental health, using her own lived experience as a tool for change. She drafted legislation championed by New York State Senator Liz Krueger, urging New York birthing hospitals to educate and screen for PMADs—a bill signed into law in 2014.

In 2015, Paige joined forces with a nationally recognized Reproductive Psychiatrist and opened The Motherhood Center. This clinical treatment facility is the first and only New York State Office of Mental Health Article-31 Perinatal Partial Hospital Program (Day Program) for mothers and birthing people experiencing moderate to severe perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. The Motherhood Center also provides perinatal outpatient treatment including therapy and medication management, support groups, and maternal mental health training and education.

As Founding Director and Chief External Relations Officer, Paige has overseen multiple departments including Human Resources, admissions, marketing, education, external partnerships, and provider relations, all while facilitating clinical support groups and providing psychotherapy to perinatal patients in the outpatient program and Day Program. Paige recently stepped down from her original role at The Motherhood Center and continues to serve the organization as the Education and Government Relations Consultant. In her current role, Paige works with government agencies, hospitals, nonprofits, and academic institutions to incorporate PMAD best practices, training, and education into operational frameworks. This work includes the NYC Department of Health and Mental Health, the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, and the New York State Office of Mental Health Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Advisory Council.

Additionally, she is an Advanced Perinatal Psychotherapy Trainer and faculty member with Postpartum Support International, and an Adjunct Professor at Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College. Paige is recognized as a perinatal mental health subject matter expert and has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, NPR, PBS NewsHour, and in Fortune, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Obianuju “Uju” Berry, MD, MPH

Obianuju “Uju” Berry, MD, MPH, is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Medical Director of NYC Health + Hospitals’ Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Mental Health Initiatives. A Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Columbia graduate, she is a child/adolescent and reproductive psychiatrist specializing in trauma, early childhood mental health, women’s mental health, and health equity. Dr. Berry leads groundbreaking initiatives, including city-wide programs supporting over 10,000 individuals annually in NYC Family Justice Centers and Domestic Violence Shelters. She is a Principal Investigator on the NIH-funded Healthy Brain and Child Development Study and directs a SAMHSA study on dyadic treatments for children and parents impacted by domestic violence. A dedicated academic and policy expert, Dr. Berry serves on the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Women’s Mental Health, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the National Alliance for Hope. Her work integrates research, policy, and clinical care to promote mental health access for diverse populations.

Ahna Red Fox

Ahna Red Fox is a Tribal Citizen of the Shinnecock Nation in Southampton, New York. She’s a Full Spectrum Indigenous Birth Worker, Indigenous Lactation Counselor, Founder of Wuttahminneoh Birth Work LLC, Executive Director of East End Birth Network Inc., an Indigenous Doula Representative on Suffolk County Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Task Force, and longstanding Maternal and Family health advocate.

Sonia Murdock, PMH-C

Sonia Murdock, PMH-C, is the Executive Director and Co-founder of non-profit, state-wide organization The Postpartum Resource Center of New York. Sonia supported her sister and family through postpartum psychosis and severe postpartum depression. She was a first-hand witness to the injustice in the way her sister was initially treated, which compelled her to vow to make a difference and take action to help women and their families experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

So, since that time, she has devoted herself to helping parents to be, moms, dads and families by speaking with and educating others. She shares from her personal and professional experiences to help others also learn what they can do to help so parents to be, mothers, fathers and families will not feel alone, will have hope and a happy family outcome. Sonia invites everyone to play their important role in Building and Strengthening Perinatal Mental Wellness Parent Support Networks and Safety Nets. She looks forward to working with those interested in making a positive difference. It is critical that perinatal mood and anxiety disorders be taken seriously and addressed to save lives and build healthy families now and for future generations.

Sonia Murdock is internationally recognized as a perinatal mood and anxiety disorders trainer, guest speaker and consultant. Sonia’s speaking and work is inspiring and motivating others to get involved and make a difference. In 2001, Sonia Murdock and the Postpartum Resource Center of New York, Inc. received the Postpartum Support International Jane Honikman Award in recognition as a world-wide model perinatal mood and anxiety disorders parent support network.

Sonia is a member of the New York State Maternal Mental Health Workgroup and an advisory member of New York State Office of Mental Health’s Project TEACH Maternal Mental Health Advisory Committee. She served as a Marcé of North America (MONA) board member, a member of Former First Lady of New York City Chirlane McCray’s Maternal Depression Initiative Steering Committee, New York State Department of Health’s Postpartum Care Expert Workgroup member and on the New York State Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Advisory Council and is a Past board member and served as president of Postpartum Support International. Sonia has been interviewed nationally and internationally and is recognized for her dedication and advocacy in the field of maternal and parental mental health and this has been noted including she is an inductee in the Suffolk County, New York Women’s Hall of Fame.

The Postpartum Resource Center of New York is actively involved in preventing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders by increasing education, awareness and community involvement, including peer support from those with lived experience.

The Postpartum Resource Center of New York has taken action to help parents to be, mothers, fathers and families cope with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and is an advocate for the Suffolk County community.

May is Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders Awareness Month in Suffolk County since May 2009 but the Postpartum Resource Center of New York takes action each day to proactively address perinatal mood and anxiety disorders for the mental well-being of Suffolk County residents.

Dariann Raven Rickerson, MPH

Dariann Rickerson earned her Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina’s Health Equity, Social Justice and Human Rights Program. She earned her Bachelors in Community Health Education from Hunter College. Motivated by the mistreatment, misdiagnoses, and covert racism, experienced both personally and in community, much of Dariann’s work is rooted in achieving social justice in communities of color; addressing racial health disparities within quality of care and access to resources; and in the implementation and evaluation of public health programs. Dariann has also engaged in local (NYC, North Carolina) and global health research (Swaziland), exploring topics that span from the juvenile justice system and community health impacts, to food insecurity in the Mississippi Delta, to Tuberculosis treatment in rural Swaziland. Changing the narrative on how people of color are cared for in the healthcare system motivates her work daily.

At Public Health Solutions, Dariann serves as the Community Program Manager for a PCORI-funded research study in NYC. CHIME, or Comparing Health Interventions for Maternal Equity, is a multi-site and multi-component study to support pregnant people to reduce postpartum weight retention. Maternal healthy weight is closely linked to maternal child health outcomes such as infant birth weight, infant mortality disparities, and maternal chronic disease incidence. And so, addressing social and environmental factors such as access to nutritious foods, green spaces, transportation, and counseling services can have significant impacts on family outcomes. Additionally, Dariann co- facilitates the Circle of Caring Support group for moms within Public Health Solutions’ Family Connect Program. This is one of many support groups offered at PHS to pregnant and parenting people in effort to enhance the spectrum of perinatal mental health support in NYC, especially among Black and Hispanic communities.

Ellen Tourtelot, MD

My focus as the recently retired Medical Director for our OB/GYN office was the integration of Behavioral Health Services and the development of an Obstetric nurse care management program. The care managers are trained to assist providers with blood pressure and diabetes management as well as tobacco cessation counseling. They also monitor patient’s lab work, imaging and testing needs. I also lead quality improvement initiatives for the office on various projects such as depression, anxiety, alcohol and substance use screening, HPV vaccination and abnormal pap smear follow up.