At the 2020 Biennial Conference of the International Marcé Society (held virtually), MONA founder Dr. Katherine L. Wisner was presented with the prestigious John Cox Medal, awarded by the President and Board of The International Marcé Society to a person who in their opinion has given distinguished service to the Society. International Marcé Society President Lisa Segre, on behalf of the Board, recognized Dr. Wisner’s critical role in establishing and accelerating the tremendous growth of Marce Of North America (MONA), and in turn, the significance of MONA to the Society and the international perinatal mental health community.

This award conveys special significance to Dr. Wisner, who has a long-standing relationship with its namesake John Cox, one of the founders of the International Marcé Society. During Dr. Wisner’s presidential term of the International Marcé Society (2008-2010), she had the opportunity to reflect on the early years of the Society with Professor Cox (who served as the third president of the Society in 1986). Their interview is a crucial glimpse into the history of the Society and their shared vision of it its importance to the creation of the perinatal mental health community, which has provided life-changing assistance to thousands of women around the world. Please click the link to read the interview here.

Dr. Wisner is the Director of the Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders, and the Norman and Helen Asher Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Read more about Dr. Wisner’s achievements, awards, and publications here.

Congratulations Dr. Wisner on this well-deserved recognition, and thank you for all your contributions to MONA, the International Marcé Society, and the field of perinatal mental health!

Congratulations to Dr. Dorothy Sit, who was awarded the 2021 Alexandra Symonds Award by the American Psychiatric Association ! This award recognizes and honors a female psychiatrist who has made significant contributions to promoting women’s health and the advancement of women.

Please consider Marce of North America on this Giving Tuesday.

Here are some ways to give back to our Non Profit organization:

You can donate here through our secure website at https://marcenortham.com/make-a-donation.

In addition, we are now linked under smile.amazon.com under the Perinatal Mental Health Society where you can link your Amazon account and a portion of the sales will be donated back to the organization. Your unique charity link: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/81-3586178

Website: https://marcenortham.com/make-a-donation

An updated list of psychiatry fellowships focusing in reproductive help is now available! Published in November 2020, this directory has information about 16 fellowship programs (15 in the United States and 1 inCanada). This directory will be posted on various websites, including

MONA, NASPOG, and MMHLA. Directory is also attached.

Greetings to all and Canadian members in particular!

The Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative is seeking your anonymous participation in a survey to help us understand the state of perinatal mental health care in Canada.

The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Click here to begin the survey: https://bit.ly/perinatalhcp.

The survey has been reviewed and approved by the Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board (CFREB), University of Calgary and we intend to publish the results in 2021. Once again, your participation in this survey will be anonymous.

The survey is intended for health care practitioners in Canada who deal directly with women or men seeking help for a perinatal mental health concern which can include preconception, prenatal or postpartum depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and psychosis, etc.

“Health care practitioner” may include family doctors, obstetricians, midwives, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, and doulas, etc.

The survey was launched during Mental Illness Awareness Week, October 4-10, 2020, and we are kindly asking that should you choose to participate, that you please complete the survey by December 15th, 2020.

Furthermore, we would greatly appreciate it if you could forward this letter to your networks. We are especially hoping to get the word out to providers in rural areas as well as providers who identify as BIPOC.

The Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative (www.cpmhc.ca) is Canada’s first and only perinatal mental health advocacy organization calling on the federal government to enact a national perinatal mental health strategy. Our National Committee is composed of numerous healthcare practitioners, researchers, and individuals with lived experience representing all provinces and territories.

We thank you in advance for your time and look forward to sharing the results with you. Should you have any questions, please contact us at canpmhc@gmail.com

Transformed by Postpartum Depression traces the experiences of 25 women through the trauma of postpartum depression. The impact of untreated postpartum depression is described within the context of the psychological literature on trauma and posttraumatic growth. Women describe being terrified by symptoms they didn’t understand and the systemic failure of care providers to screen or treat their worsening symptoms, resulting in life-threatening and life-changing trauma. Interviews with leaders in the field of maternal mental health provide a critical counterpoint to the concept of postpartum depression as a traumatic life event.

Transformed by Postpartum Depression provides a timely and insightful reflection on the
state of maternal mental health in the United States.

New edition just published:

*Transformed by Postpartum Depression: Women's Stories of Trauma and Growth

Second Edition (Praeclarus, 2020)*

Walker Ladd, Ph.D.

pronouns: she/her/hers

email: drwalkerladd@gmail.com

url: http://walkerladd.com

Book: Transformed by Postpartum Depression: Women's Stories of Trauma and Growth

https://www.amazon.com/dp-194666541X/dp/194666541X/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

Website: www.walkerladd.com

Dr Paynes Paper is featured in the National Academy of Medicine

https://doi.org/10.31478/202011g

Author Information

Jennifer Payne is associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Debra Umberson is professor of sociology and director of the Center on Aging and Population Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Erin Kellogg is an associate program officer at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in the Board on Children, Youth, and Families.

Member and MONA Treasurer Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo's proposal titled “COVID-19: Assessing Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Mexican-American and Mexican Immigrant Mothers (CADA MAMI)” has been funded by the Center for Social and Behavioral Science (CSBS) Small Grant program at the University of Illinois. The co-investigators include MONA member Kimberly D’Anna-Hernandez from California State University San Marcos, and Amy Non from the University of California San Diego.

Lifeline4Moms, with support from MMHLA, has recently published a paper discussing perinatal psychiatry access programs, along with a 2-page Fact Sheet. Perinatal psychiatry access programs train frontline providers to screen for and treat perinatal mental health conditions, provide real-time access to reproductive psychiatrists for expert clinical guidance, and offer resources and referrals for affected patients. Both the paper and fact sheet are attached.

The paper can be found HERE

<https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1159&context=pib> and

the fact sheet can be found HERE <https://www.mmhla.org/factsheets/>.

This segment below from the Drew Barrymore show discusses the meaning of real self-love and re-defining what it means to *really* take care of yourself Featuring Pooja Lakshmin, MD.

www.poojalakshmin.com

Instagram @womensmentalhealthdoc

Twitter @PoojaLakshmin

Website: www.poojalakshmin.com
Twitter: @PoojaLakshmin

This is a new paper that I have out with my colleagues, Leena Mittal, and Carmina Erdei, which focuses on perinatal mental health during the pandemic in over a thousand US women. The press release will be coming out shortly.

Liu CH, Erdei C, Mittal L. Risk Factors for Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD Symptoms in Perinatal Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Psychiatry Research. 2020 Nov 4:113552.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178120332133

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions encountered by women of reproductive age. Early identification and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are critical to ensure optimal infant development and future mental health.

This CME-eligible series will launch on January 18, 2021, 4:00-5:00 p.m., and will include 7 monthly sessions concluding June 21, 2021. Participating clinicians will learn best practices in diagnosis and treatment of common and complex conditions and increase their confidence and self efficacy. Sessions will cover topics including management of peripartum depression, anxiety disorders in pregnancy and postpartum period, bipolar disorder and pregnancy, treatment of insomnia in pregnancy and postpartum, suicide risk assessment, ADHD in pregnancy, and alternative and pharmacological interventions for better mental health in pregnancy and postpartum.

This activity is designed for anyone caring for women who experience perinatal mental health problems including providers, Advanced Practice Providers (APP), trainees, nurses and social workers.

CLICK LINK TO REGISTER HERE

https://redcap.ctsi.psu.edu/surveys/index.php?s=HMKRKDRFJA

Ritika Baweja, MD.

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health

Women’s Behavioral Health Integrated Care

Penn State College of Medicine

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Thanks for your interest in our work. This study represents the first in a larger series of studies my team and I are leading, and a central question is to evaluate the impact of mental health parity and the Affordable Care Act on reproductive mental health outcomes.

Our work also appeared in a number of news outlets, including USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/11/20/growth-suicidal-thoughts-self-harm-during-after-pregnancy-jama-psychiatry-study/6346945002/

For more information see: https://karazivin.com/research/

Kara Zivin, PhD, MS, MA

Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School

Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan Medical School

Professor of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan School of Public Health

Faculty Associate, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

Research Scientist, Center for Clinical Management Research (CCMR), VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System

Advocating for Women With Postpartum Mental Illness: A Guide to Changing the Law and the National Climate (Rowman and Littlefield, 2020)

Our book covers in greater detail the topic of our two presentations at the MARCE International Conference last month. We presented a 90 minute workshop: Maternal Mental Illness and Filicide: Perspectives on the Law and Guidelines for the Expert Witness (with Dr. Diana Barnes) and also participated in a 2.5 hour panel on Infanticide. Our contribution to that panel was based on Chapter 3: A Ground-Breaking Illinois Postpartum Law Brings Hope for Change in the United States in the upcoming book, Infanticide and Filicide, edited by Wong and Parnham.

Please see the flyer attached below for more information on the book and a Special Discount offer for MONA members.

Susan Benjamin Feingold, PsyD, PMH-C

Barry M. Lewis, JD

Susan Benjamin Feingold, PsyD and Associates for Perinatal Mental Health, LLC

Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Advocate and Author

Author of: Advocating for Women With Postpartum Mental Illness: A Guide to Changing the Law and the National Climate (April 2020)

Happy Endings... Navigating Postpartum Disorders (2013)

Offices in Skokie & Chicago

847.804.5716

http://www.drsusanbfeingold.com

• listserv access (including expert discussion on clinical challenges, posts about new programs and research, and up to date information on conferences)
• discount on the MONA conference
• free access to MONA webinars
• access to the online membership portal (including webinar videos, papers of the month, and other exclusive info)
• access to special interest groups
• monthly Newsletter with privileges to share announcements
• Silver Level Membership to Marce International - all members of MONA automatically become Silver Level members of the global organization

• U.S. - $225 (U.S. Dollars) for professionals; $100 for students, trainees, etc
• Canada - $275 (Canadian Dollars); $115 for students, trainees, etc
• Mexico - $49 for professionals; $25 for students

*This two year membership will ensure that you will not need to renew your MONA membership again until 2023 and you will receive a 10% discount as well.

• $405 for U.S professionals; $180 for U.S. students, trainees, etc.
• $495 for Canada professionals; $205 for students, trainees, etc.
• $80 Mexico professionals; $40 for students

Membership Renewals will be begin on January 1st, 2021 and must be renewed by March 1st in order to stay on the current listserv and newsletter mailing list. Please stayed tuned for more information and reminders around the new year for membership renewals. All MONA Members will receive a discounted rate on this years Virtual Conference which will take place October 21-24th!

The Marcé Society of North America is committed to the advancement of Clinical Care, Research, Advocacy, and Education.

Email: INFO@PERINATALMENTALHEALTH.COM
Website: www.marcenortham.com
Phone: 219.465.1115
Twitter: @Marcenortham