Maternal Mental Health Symposium was held on May 11, 2022!

The Maternal Mental Health Symposium was held online on May 11, 2022 under the chairmanship of Professor Nazan Aydın.

In the first session of the symposium, which consists of two sessions, mothers who had mental health problems related to birth in the perinatal period shared their valuable experiences. In this session, Elise Marcende, the founder and president of the Maman Blues, which was established by mothers to support maternal mental health in France, also gave a speech. With the translation and support of Dr. Oğuz Omay, who works as a Perinatal Psychiatrist in Switzerland, she shared her own experiences to Turkish mothers, demonstrating the universality of these problems once again. The first contacts were made with Ayla Varlı, the founder of the Hand in Hand Mother Group, which was initiated to support maternal mental health in Turkey, and a collaboration began. There was also a father among the speakers. Our participants had the chance to hear from a father about postpartum depression.

In the second session, Christena Raines from Postpartum Support International talked about perinatal loss and grief; Professor Esra Yazıcı from Sakarya University provided information on the use of drug treatments during pregnancy and postpartum period when necessary; Elif Akdağ Göçek, Vice President of Infant Mental Health Association, talked about the emotional needs of babies. In the last part, a question and answer session was held under the moderation of Psychologist Beyza Nur Ekşi and Clinical Psychologist Burak İyidir.

In the symposium, where Maternal Mental Health was discussed with international speakers and important names working in this field in our country, it was aimed to emphasize the message that we are stronger together.