Video: Workshop on Postpartum OCD and Suicidal Ideation

[Update: Additional resources on fatherhood engagement were added to this blog post on October 13, 2021. They are available below.

The certifications and degrees follow her name like a trail of alphabet soup, but Gabrielle Kaufman, MA, LPCC, BC-DMT, NCC, has more than book-smarts. She also has a knack for putting people at ease and getting them to open up.

“The hospital sent me home with a chart to track the poopy diapers … and I became obsessed with this chart,” said one of the participants at Antelope Valley Partners for Health, where Gabrielle led a workshop on postpartum OCD and suicidal ideation. “After I completed the chart that was provided to me, I created my own chart…. I was obsessed with her diapers.”

Gabrielle, the training director for Maternal Mental Health NOW, talked about how to approach moms about issues like this (which may seem trivial, but can be debilitating) as well as matters of life and death.

The event was part of the latest round of regional workshops for Welcome Baby and home visiting staff, who receive continual training to help them in their work with pregnant and postpartum moms in L.A. County. Gabrielle also gave the presentation in downtown L.A. and Long Beach.

Here is a recording of the presentation in Antelope Valley. Scroll down for related resources, and see her presentation slides here.

Maternal Mental Health NOW Resources

• L.A. County Maternal Mental Health Resource Directory
• Community Provider Perinatal Mental Health Toolkit (3rd ed., includes resources in Spanish)
• Self-Help Tool (App) (English/Spanish)
• Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Symptoms & Diagnoses
• Infographic: Perinatal Mental Health
• Perinatal Mental Health Integration Guide, 2018
• Diversity in Perinatal Mental Health Webinar Series
• Training Programs
• Speak Up When You’re Down: 6 things every new mom and mom-to-be should know about perinatal depression (English/Spanish)

Other Resources

• Resources for Providers (screening tools and more)
• Columbia – Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) (screening tool, worksheet)
• Vital Signs: Suicide Attempts CAN be Predicted (article about the C-SSRS)
• Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) Screeners (includes PHQ-9 and GAD-7 screening tools in multiple languages)
• Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Services Locator (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
• Video: When Having a Child Doesn’t Make You Happy (referenced in the above workshop; part of New York Times series “Conception: Six Stories About Becoming a Mother”)
• Trailer for the New York Times‘s video series Conception Season One: Six Stories About Becoming a Mother

Helpful Websites

• Maternal Mental Health NOW
• 2020Mom.org
• BabyCenter – Expert Advice on Postpartum Depression
• March of Dimes: Postpartum Depression
• National Institute of Mental Health – Postpartum Depression
• NIH’s National Library of Medicine: Postpartum Depression
• Postpartum Support International: Pregnancy & Postpartum Mental Health
• UCLA Maternal Mental Health Program
• World Health Organization: Maternal Mental Health