We all picture the joyous new mother. Happy, put together and radiant. The reality is often very different. Many moms are relieved that their baby. A mother’s mental health has a direct impact on her baby and we as pediatric clinicians are in a perfect position to support her. Dr. Rena Menke, a clinical psychologist with 15 years of experience working with pregnant and postpartum mothers, walks us through a model of care that promotes parenting skills and supports infant mental health. Dr. Menke describes how we can help parents by finding “beautiful moments” between a caregiver and their baby.
[00:01] Dr. Rena Menke Shares Her Story With Us
- How Dr. Menke shares her journey to the infant mental health field
- What to expect in infant mental health according to Dr. Menke
[04:13] 3 Moments Between a Mother and Her Baby
- Why pediatricians need to consider mental health in treating patients
- Dr. Menke connects a mother’s mental health to that of her child
- The reality about motherhood you need to realize
- She talks about her program, “Early Relational Health”
- Is it exclusive for mothers?
- When is it best implemented?
- The 3 types of moments to watch out for between a mother and her baby
[14:20] Creating Beautiful Moments
- How to advise mothers in overcoming challenging moments with their babies
- Dr. Menke shares how to practice empathy with parents
- What pediatricians can learn from the infant mental health field
- Check out some resources on early relational health!
- Links below
- Building a “partnership” with parents to create beautiful moments
[24:28] Building Meaningful and Healthy Relationships
- We talk about the things that pediatricians do best
- What confidence brings to parents in terms of taking care of their children
- Simple exercise parents can do when talking about their kids
- How meaningful and healthy relationships are built
[32:31] Closing Segment
- Final takeaways:
- Infant mental health was pioneered by Selma Fraiberg, author of “The Magic Years”
- Perinatal mood and anxiety disorder prevalence is about 40%.
- Early relational health is an intervention developed by pediatrician, David Willis
- A primary care physician or provider may identify an infant-parent dyad that may need some support.
- Identifying the 3 key moments between the mother and her baby
- We may need to take a breath and pause as we help guide through interactions that we are concerned about
- There’s formal online training for interested clinicians to learn more about upstream prevention intervention
- Rena’s contact details below
- Child psychiatry access programs are available across the country. Links below
- For information on how to develop integrated behavioral health in your practice, please reach out to me in the show note links
Key Quotes:
“I think what’s wonderful is we now know that there are so many different resources for moms and babies… ” – Dr. Rena Menke
“When parents are feeling confident and able to care for their children, then they have more ability to choose what they’re doing.” – Dr. Rena Menke
Email [email protected] to connect with Dr. Menke or check out http://med.umich.edu/ to know more about her work.
Resources Mentioned:
- Pediatric Meltdown previous episodes
- Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Treatment Risks and Benefits
- Psychiatric Consultation: The Doctor is In!
- The Art of Conscious Parenting with Dr. Robert Saul
- Michigan Child Collaborative Care
- Center for the Study of Social Policy: Early Relational Health Screen
- First 3 Years, Early Relational Health Webinar Series
- Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health
- Zero to Thrive
If an organization or site is interested in implementing the Early Relational Health Screen or the Thrive with your Baby Clinic, please contact Katherine Rosenblum, PhD, [email protected], or Rena Menke, PhD, [email protected].
If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter or email me at [email protected]. To learn more about me visit https://www.medicalbhs.com/
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