Maternal Mental Health Symposium was held on May 3, 2023!

Maternal Mental Health Symposium, which was planned as part of the World Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, was held online on May 3, 2023 under the chairmanship of Professor Nazan Aydın.

In the first part of the symposium, which consists of two parts, Maternal Mental Health Awareness Alliance Coordinator Professor Nazan Aydın talked about the importance of maternal mental health and the data on maternal mental health in Turkey and the world. She mentioned about how mothers felt during this process and gave some clues on what to do about it. Afterwards, we listened to the experiences of mothers who had mental health problems during pregnancy and postpartum period. At the end of this part, a mother and father who had a child with foster parenting shared with us their parenting processes and their difficulties in this process.

In the second part, Assoc. Dr. Elif Okşan Çalıkoğlu addressed the needs of mothers in the earthquake region with her speech titled “Earthquake and Being a Mother”; a social pediatrician, Proff. Nalan Karabayır gave information about the pharmacotherapy during breastfeeding.; Proff. Esra Yazıcı from Sakarya University shared very useful information with her speech titled "Bipolar Disorder and Being a Mother". Participating in our symposium from the USA, a pediatrician and infant mental health specialist, Dr. Beril Bayrak Bulucu shared useful information about supporting mother-baby bonding and the needs of babies. In the last part, a question and answer session was held under the moderation of Psychologist Beyza Nur Ekşi.

In the symposium with the support and sharing of valuable participants, it was aimed to emphasize the importance of Maternal Mental Health and the message that we are stronger together.