Giving Birth During a Pandemic: 3 Factors that Impact Maternal Mental Health
By Amanda Freeman, Ph.D., PMH-C The birth of a child can be one of the most wonderful, amazing, and joyous experiences of a woman’s life. Even in the best of times, it can also be incredibly challenging and emotional. Having a baby during the COVID-19 pandemic adds an unexpected and enormous layer of emotional tension […]
4 Tips to Eliminate Sleep Props
Written by Natalie Fitzgerald, Certified Sleep Consultant, and Postpartum Doula. A sleep prop is something your baby relies on to fall asleep or to fall back asleep. Common sleep props can be rocking or nursing to sleep – but really it’s anything that your baby relies on to fall asleep, and cannot fall back to […]
A Friend in Need- Three Steps to Help Moms Who are Struggling
By PHA Board Member Shelly Tregembo. With one in five mothers experiencing depression or anxiety during or after their pregnancy, the need for all of us to have a good understanding of how to reach out and get our friends and loved ones connected to care is crucial. Depending on each mom’s situation, different resources […]
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: A Therapist’s Overview
Gretchen Mallios, LCSW, RYT is a therapist in private practice in San Diego and past President of Postpartum Health Alliance. In addition, she is the founder of Positively Yoga, where she and other instructors offer therapeutic yoga and mindfulness services to support emotional health Many people compare pregnancy and parenting to a roller coaster, filled […]
Conversations that Count: Ask a Dad about His Journey
By Dr. Daniel Singley, Ph.D. International Fathers’ Mental Health Day (IFMHD) was on June 17th (the day after Father’s Day), so I wanted to take a quick look at an often-overlooked aspect of new fathers’ adjustment to parenthood: His own hormonal changes. Several of my colleagues founded IFMHD several years back as a way to […]
Why I Climb.
Postpartum Health Alliance (PHA) is honored to co-host San Diego’s 5th annual Climb Out of the Darkness, the world’s largest event raising awareness about PMADs (perinatal mood and anxiety disorders). Please join us for this free, family-friendly event on June 15th at Kate Sessions Park from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Blog post by Julie […]
The Perfect Mother
Written by PHA Board member Dr. Amanda Freeman. Amanda is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice. She is passionate about making the experience of motherhood a joyful and fulfilling time. Striving for the impossible ideal of being the “perfect mother” is a trap many can fall into. The “perfect mother” is plastered all over […]
Parenting With Social Media
Undoubtedly, social media has completely changed society. Everything we do and see is now being documented for our family and friends (and the rest of the universe for that matter) to see. They experience what we experience through tiny 5-inch screens. How is this changing the way we parent and how is this affecting our […]
Play. Connect. Love.
February is the month of love. This time of year, people go to great lengths to show how much they love each other. There are grand gestures and extravagant gifts, but I’m here to reinforce the idea that showing love is actually very simple. The key ingredient to any loving relationship is presence. Being fully […]
Walking Through Infant Loss
By Nikki Watkins, PsyD, LMFT My journey through infant loss is one I never thought I would endure. I had given birth to three healthy children prior to this pregnancy and there was no reason for me to think this would be any different. Even when we were told at five months gestation that our […]