Explore the story of one Mom and how her experience
demonstrates the role of community service providers
in Mothers’ Mental Health.
Meet our Mom
MoM is a Mothers’ Mental Health Toolkit
Project Learning Video
with Dr. Joanne MacDonald
Reproductive Mental Health Service
IWK Health Centre
Halifax, NS
Meet our Mom MoM
As a community service provider to mothers
and young families you can create opportunities
to promote and support mothers’ mental health.
A mother’s positive mental health promotes
the development of her child in physical growth
and health, a solid self-esteem, confidence and
skill in learning, emotional regulation and
relationship success throughout life.
Meet our Mom MoM
• In the series, Meet our Mom MoM, the Mothers’ Mental Health
Toolkit Project team will introduce you to case descriptions drawn
From the real experiences of our mental health clinicians and our
Family Resource Centre partner staff.
• These Moms have common presentations and problems that will
challenge you to define your possible role and contributions to her
well being. The Moms will also provide examples of how you might
use some of the Toolkit resources in your work.
• Have a copy of your Toolkit out for reference as we begin to
Meet our Moms.
• You could also print off this presentation and make notes as you go.
Meet our Mom Tennika
•
Tennika is a 32 yo mother of 4 month old baby girl;
previously employed as a bookkeeper.
•
Tennika and partner Jay conceived after many
years of fertility treatments.
•
Pregnancy was complicated by threatened preterm labour, bleeding and high blood pressure
towards the end.
•
Baby Shania was born by C-section after a long
difficult labour and fetal distress.
Meet our Mom Tennika
• Tennika’s mother came to help in first 6 weeks; she was
very helpful although it was crowded in their small
apartment.
• She is avoiding taking Shania outside for fear of infection
and Jay needs the car for work, so she doesn’t want to
use bus with the baby.
• She has been to the Family Doctor several times with
concerns about Shania having an infection. She tells him
she also feels short of breath and has chest pains that
are new.
Meet our Mom Tennika
What are 3 possible mental health issues for
Tennika?
1.
2.
3.
Meet our Mom Tennika
The Toolkit Project team identified:
1. Expectations of motherhood may have been high because of
how long and how important it was to become pregnant. The
pregnancy and delivery may have been disappointing and
frightening.
2. Mom could have some Post-traumatic Stress reactions from
the medical complication experiences and baby’s distress
during labour - that increase her anxiety now.
3. Various presentations of anxiety are possible here – worry
about infection that is excessive and has become obsessive;
Generalized Anxiety Disorder and constant worry contributing
to physical problems; or mild to moderate panic symptoms
with a general sense of fear, shortness of breath, chest pain
and the instinct to avoid the triggers for the fear.
Meet our Mom Tennika
What would you like to know more about this
mom?
1.
2.
3.
Meet our Mom Tennika
The Project Team wondered about:
1. What were the experiences that created a sense of fear for
Tennika?
• Once the baby is safely delivered, sometimes the real
experience of the mother is overlooked. The medical team
sees the crisis as passed as mom and baby are now well;
expression and resolution of the traumatic elements doesn’t
occur and the busy life with a new baby begins.
Tennika truly felt Shania might die with every experience of
bleeding, or threatened labour and then the sudden distress
and C-section. She is still experiencing the memories of those
moments.
Meet our Mom Tennika
2. Has Tennika experienced an anxiety problem before
becoming a mother?
• Tennika was by temperament a quiet shy child, cared for
by her loving grandmother. She had difficulty leaving the
family to go to school, but did adjust in time. She was
always a very good student, liked to be prepared well in
advance, but could experience high anxiety just before
exams. Once in community college she had a period of
sleeplessness for a month when working on a major
project.
Meet our Mom Tennika
3. How does Tennika usually cope with stress?
• Tennika has always focused on being prepared, planning
and keeping lists, rehearsing what will happen in a new
or stressful situation in her mind. Mothering hasn’t been
quite what she expected or planned for. She feels
somehow poorly prepared then for every day. She is a
‘worker’ in her mind and doesn’t have much experience
with relaxation or recreation as strategies to reduce
tension or stress.
Meet our Mom Tennika
What could be the role for you and your
organization to support her mental health
as a mother?
1.
2.
3.
Meet our Mom Tennika
Possible roles and contributions:
1. Encouragement and observation of the baby’s
development may help Tennika see her baby as healthy
and thriving, reduce fear and normalize the adjustments.
2. Fear of illness is limiting her social support and
increasing isolation; your centre could be a destination
she trusts.
3. You can provide information about how common worry is
for mothers and the importance of screening when worry
becomes an anxiety problem.
Meet our Mom Tennika
How might you use the Toolkit resources
with Tennika?
•
A focus on the usual developmental stages and realistic appraisal of her
baby will be an important support.
•
Pages 54 & 55 describe attachment development by infant life stage.
Meet our Mom Tennika
• You wonder if Tennika may have more than ordinary worry, possibly
some form of an anxiety disorder.
• Pages 122-127 are brief descriptions of common mental health
problems for mothers.
• Let’s look at the anxiety disorder possibilities
Meet our Mom Tennika
How do you introduce the possibility of a mental health problem
with Tennika?
• You might approach her by re-stating something she has told you –
for example:
•
“ You mentioned you thought Shania might become ill if you went to the birthday
party. “ These were her words which you can follow with a softly delivered
question such as “How is all this worry about her affecting you?”
• Conveys concern but doesn’t convey judgement about her emotion.
You can then introduce the idea that women experience postpartum anxiety
as well as postpartum depression.
Page 121 is a general checklist you could offer, for her to do on
her own, or with you
Meet our Mom Tennika
Key Points in Working with Worry
1. All mothers have concerns and need to be attentive. But
constant worry is not typical or necessary for effective
nurturing or mothering.
2. Respect the woman’s possible past experiences of fear or risk
and how that could be shaping her anxious feelings and ideas
now. She feels it strongly, which makes it real in her
experience now.
3. Anxiety in the body and the mind can be very effectively
managed or treated.Your mom doesn’t have to keep feeling
this much distress.
Meet our Mom Tennika
Other Resources:
http://perinatal.anxietybc.com - Part of a great web
resource generally on recognizing and managing
anxiety; this section was designed for mothers
www.caringforkids.cps.ca – Official website of the
Canadian Paediatric Society has a range of
information about raising healthy infants and children,
as a reliable resource for mom