Life has been impossibly hectic these last three months. Blogging took a back seat to multiple personal (my only daughter's engagement!) and professional (teaching, interview, writing, clinical and advocacy) demands and other important behind-the-scenes activity.
As spring approaches, the results of these endeavors are ready for presentation and will be featured each week in this renewed Perinatal Pro blog! Despite my absence, the list of subscribers has doubled producing pangs of guilt about getting back to the blog. It is most gratifying to see the increasing numbers of those who align themselves with this issue among clinicians and consumers alike!
The fact that our federal bill has not yet been funded has not slowed the dedicated work of zealous practitioners and advocates. Nor has it diminished the sheer numbers of clinicians and consumers whose lives have been affected by the impact of unmitigated PPD.
The first important inaugural event in the NY/NJ area is next Tuesday, March 27th at 10:30 PM, when Emmy Award winning journalist Sara Less Kessler debuts her new show "Healthbeat" on area PBS stations NJTV in the tri-state area).
Sara Lee Kessler and her producer Janice SelingerJanice','','');return false;"> journeyed around the country to interview those whose PPD programs and research represent much of what we've accomplished so far, as well as highlighting innovative research which points the way to future directions in managing and treating PPD.
They interviewed Dr. Katherine Wisner, a renown and cutting edge researcher at UPMC who has spearheaded studies into the etiology and treatments for PPD. Heading further south, this Emmy award winning team visited the groundbreaking program at UNC, which houses the nation's first inpatient perinatal psychiatry unit. There they interviewed director Samantha Meltzer-Brody, MD and nurse practitioner Chris Raines, RN.
Closer to home, they took stock of NJ's maternal child health consortia programs, and sat with Susan Ellis Murphy who has helped create amazingly effective outreach programs in southern NJ. Up north, Hackensack University Medical Center is featured with their group for new mothers, giving us a view of what their referral networks look like and how they identify mothers who have the potential to develop postpartum depression and anxiety disorders.
NJ's First Lady, Mary Jo Codey and her husband, Governor Richard Codey chronicled the early beginnings of NJ's Speak Up When You're Down Program.
The program airs these interviews and solicits commentary from a pediatrician, Mary Ann Lofrumento, MD, an obstetrician, Afriye Amerson, MD and a clinical social worker, yours truly.
It's a great snapshot of where we are, what we have learned and promising directions and programs. I hope you will tune in and join me in thanking this very talented journalist, Sara Lee Kessler, for highlighting our ongoing and critically important mission.