Safe Babies Safe Moms Women's and Infants' Services Perinatal Mental Health and Wellness Program: A Comprehensive...

The Safe Babies Safe Moms Women's and Infants' Services Perinatal Mental Health and Wellness Program offers screening, assessment, prevention, and treatment options, as well as referrals, for complex care needs using an integrated collaborative care framework. Group and individual therapy options are available, leveraging both office-based and telehealth options. The article details the program's framework for services, describes the care team and program workflow, and summarizes program activities. In calendar year 2024, 3383 screenings using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were completed for 1914 unique patients. Perinatal social workers conducted 1328 care coordination visits and completed 148 perinatal mental health assessments for elevated screenings. Integrated therapeutic services reached 220 people, and 53 were referred to psychiatry for complex care needs. The strengths of this program stem from early initiation of screening, multiple screenings throughout the perinatal period, care coordination for social services interventions, and a shared-decision-making process centered around the patients' needs and goals for perinatal mental health care. This integrated mental health model establishes a distinct, well-defined, yet dynamic pathway to provide screening, care coordination, and interventions for both prevention and treatment to optimize perinatal mental health outcomes. Evaluation of program outcomes is ongoing.