A Trail from Education to Impact with the Seleni Institute’s Black Perinatal Mental Health Training
July 31, 2023 – The Seleni Institute has partnered with kate spade new york to address and increase awareness of maternal mental health for Black birthing individuals. A champion for the mental well-being of women in underserved communities, kate spade new york’s support to Seleni has helped to foster inclusivity in mental health care through continuing education for professionals.
Over the past decade, in the course of advancing Seleni’s mission to treat, train, support, and advocate for improvement in the emotional health of individuals and families during the family-building period, we have encountered stark disparities in shared knowledge and specialized resources on perinatal mental health in BIPOC communities.
At 39.9% per 100,000 live births, Black women have disproportionately higher pregnancy-related mortality rates, compared to the national average of 28.9%, and 14.1% for White women, as reported by the CDC. Black women also have a higher risk factor for severe maternal morbidity (SMM), which is 50 to 100 times more common than maternal death.
Unpacking these disparities, the Kaiser Family Foundation highlights gaps in health insurance coverage and access to care, as well as wider social and economic factors, systemic racism and discrimination at the root. Such socioeconomic and structural conditions typically contribute to prevalent chronic stressors often associated with increased incidences of preterm birth, predominantly higher among Black women and women from lower socioeconomic environments. Combined, these underscore an estimation from the Anxiety & Depression Association of America that the risk of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) among Black birthing individuals in the U.S. is double the national average.
Knowing these contextual underpinnings of poor maternal and infant health outcomes for Black families in the U.S., Seleni developed and launched the Black Perinatal Mental Health (BPMH) training, sponsored by kate spade new york. Through their grant, Seleni has successfully offered 200 scholarships to mental health professionals and students working with Black birthing individuals and families.
Launched on Maternal Health Awareness Day in January 2023, the 6-credit, CE-accredited clinical training is designed to help mental health clinicians, birth workers, medical providers, and other professionals better support the mental health care and birthing outcomes of Black birthing individuals and families. It is led by Dr. Marissa Long (MAOB, PsyD), founder of ARC Counseling & Wellness with a specialty in reproductive psychology and Black perinatal mental health. Now at the mid-year mark since its launch, we are looking back and tracing the trail of value and progress for the communities of clinicians, social workers and other professionals we have reached so far through the training.
Our scholarship recipients reside across the US and internationally with most representation in New York, California, Texas, and Illinois. In addition, our training is purchased across the globe. Scholarship recipients who have already completed their training have achieved a 100% pass rate on the final exam.
Our practicing scholars self-report an average clinical load of 20 clients per week, highlighting the potential of these scholarships to reach and impact up to 4,000 individuals per week. With 1 in 5 women experiencing perinatal mental health conditions according to the WHO, such a ripple effect of continuing education to meet patient needs along the broad spectrum of care goes a long way.
Before completing the BPMH training, our trainees self-reported "moderate" levels of proficiency working with Black birthing individuals, and "moderate" levels of confidence in their abilities to deliver high-quality support to this population. Following the training, more than 80% self-reported an increase to "very" proficient and "very" confident.
One of the training participants, Dr. Karen Sheffield-Abdullah (Ph.D., MSN, CNM, FACNM), a certified Nurse-Midwife, Mindfulness Instructor, founder of Dr. Karen, LLC and BRAVE Company, LLC, and Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, came across the BPMH training through LinkedIn and was drawn to the fact that the training aims to equip clinicians to provide culturally sensitive, respectful and mindful care. Addressing her training experience, she says, “I admired the approach of setting the background with statistics on birth equity, the history of PMADs in the Black community, historical experiences, physiology and epigenetics. I also found it really valuable that the training addressed grief and loss.”
Following the training, Dr. Sheffield-Abdullah adds that she applies all aspects of the BPMH training in her day-to-day work in stress and anxiety research, specifically for Black, perinatal individuals. She took away practical tips on how to initiate care, how to approach referrals, as well as helpful resources for amplifying cultural humility, grounded in the acknowledgment that while we can never be culturally competent in another culture, we can be humble enough to say, “How might I best provide care for you? How can I best support you such that you are seen, heard and valued, so that we can work together to hopefully optimize your pregnancy outcome?”
In another participant testimonial, Maryland-based mental health clinician Brittany Scriber (LCPC), shared, “As a Black woman, I have heard about the strong Black woman schema before, but after reading the article on it from the mandatory readings list, I learned much more and heavily identified with the different aspects.” Brittany adds that the information from the training will assist her in her work in the Black perinatal community. She expressed her appreciation for the training’s breakdown of the differences between cultural competence and cultural humility.
“The lessons from the BPMH training will allow Seleni to continue on its mission to raise awareness through innovative and quality content. Seleni is dedicated to closing gaps in the curriculum for maternal mental health care for underrepresented communities in the U.S. and across the globe. The reviews and testimonials from our trainees renew our commitment to keep making strides for positive impact and change,” comments Seema Bajaj, our Executive Director at Seleni.
Speaking on the training and early outcomes, Taryn Bird Executive Director of Social Impact at kate spade new york said, “We believe strongly in the foundational tenets of Seleni’s treatment approach, which is that supporting a parent’s mental health has positive impacts for generations. This training speaks directly to the heart of our mission at kate spade new york, which is to empower women and girls around the world through investing in their mental health”.
Dr. Orinthia King, an emergency medicine physician and Director of Ultrasound at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, comments that “Seleni’s work in the maternal mental health community is present, current and it is imperative. With their Black Perinatal Mental Health training course they have helped alert the physician to their own practice biases that may be hindering them from providing the best care to their patients specifically during the perinatal period; where they are the most vulnerable. The course gives depth and understanding to birthing equity from its roots to present-day prejudices, while motivating the learner to self-reflect and enact change in their daily practices. Its content allows for critical thinking, promotes cultural literacy and invites behavior modifications that can aid in decreasing the birth inequity experienced among Black birthing people. Any health professional engaging with Black birthing people should consider incorporating this invaluable course into their continuing medical education”.
In the training preview released in 2022, Dr. Long stresses how important the need for culturally sensitive, respectful and mindful care is, in order to support Black birthing people. It is more than evident, now, and as we look to the future, that intentional awareness, support and protection for diverse populations in perinatal mental health is an extension of fundamental human rights, and that eliminating racial disparities in maternal healthcare and maternal health outcomes is a target well past its due date.
At Seleni, we will continue advancing efforts to close these gaps and chart a future where health equity is guaranteed for all.
