Increase awareness of the following aspects of PMH: risk factors, symptoms, prevalence, community impacts, accurate portrayals of the ability to parent, limiting adverse childhood events (ACEs), and available resources for support.

Implement and sustain evidence-informed programming that provides group or individual support to people in the perinatal period and builds community for new families, including services provided by doulas, birthworkers, care coordinators, peer support specialists, and other community-based supports.

It is imperative that people working with the perinatal population are provided a comprehensive education that covers all aspects of PMH including: Screening and assessment to intervention and treatment, awareness of the importance of early identification and intervention for mental health and substance use challenges, stigma reduction and trust-building, and accurate and timely referrals in PMH care. Medical professionals should understand mental health conditions, their symptoms, treatments, and referral options to the same extent that physical health conditions such as obstetric hemorrhage or hypertension, are understood.

A myriad of support types is necessary to support people with PMH conditions and SUDs. Creating this support network requires timely connection of birthing people to the resources they need, as they need them, and investment in care coordinators, peer supporters, and others who intimately understand the resources available and are skilled at building relationships with patients, providers, and program staff.

Culturally informed programming is essential to providing quality PMH care. This means ensuring that programs are designed and delivered in a way that is sensitive to the needs and experiences of the people they serve.

Address social determinants of health that impact PMH. This includes policies that support affordable housing, accessible transportation, food security, and affordable childcare.

Efforts to improve the perinatal mental health landscape are growing in Montana. These resources include the MTPAL psychiatric access line, the Meadowlark Initiative, and the Montana Obstetrics and Maternal Supports (MOMS) program.

These statewide resources compliment the numerous community and county level resources, such as Postpartum Resource Group in Flathead County and Roots Family Collaborative in Bozeman.

For Community Groups looking to improve the system of care and referrals

Montana has many supports for families in pregnancy and early childhood.  HMHB works closely with this system of supports, and their local groups, to learn and share the knowledge and skills required to effectively serve those who need support during this special time in life. We consistently hear the need to more easily be able to refer patients and clients to appropriate resources.  Many communities create resource lists to assist parents, caregivers and providers to be able to find help, when they need it. 

This toolkit can help community groups to build a list of their community’s perinatal mental health and support specialists. HMHB worked in collaboration with the Maternal Mental Health Taskforce of the Helena Early Childhood Coalition and the Flathead Perinatal Mental Health Coalition of the Flathead Valley Early Childhood Coalition to create this resource. This toolkit offers:

• Points of consideration (language, categories to list, etc.)
• An example of criteria that could be adopted to create a vetted guide
• Content to populate an online form for outreach and recruitment efforts
• Resources and other referral lists for inspiration
• Designed template for your use

Download our templates and fill them in with your own local resources. We have also created an infographic about PMADs that can help you build awareness in your community as you collect resources and each time you share your community’s list.

For Primary Care Providers and others who are interested in screening

Visit our trainings page to view past recorded perinatal mental health trainings.

Visit the Perinatal Mental Health Training and Development Hub to explore learning opportunities from across Montana and the nation. This curated collection highlights trainings and professional development opportunities focused on perinatal mental health, maternal and child health, early childhood, family supports, and related fields—designed to help strengthen the workforce and better support families.

Stay up to date on the when and where of the Annual Montana Perinatal Mental Health Conference, and be the first to hear about speakers, sessions, and other exciting updates.

See our guidance to parents about mental health.