Qualitative interviews with health providers identified unique qualities of the IFMH program and why families were and were not referred to the program. Recommendations centered on adding a full-time IFMH mental health provider to the NICU and increasing communication and integration between the IFMH program and the medical team.This mixed-methods pilot study investigated maternal perceived stress specific to infant neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization as a moderator of the relationship between traumatic childbirth appraisal and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). NICU mothers (N = 77) were recruited via social media 1 to 4 months postpartum for a cross-sectional survey about perinatal experiences. Measures included traumatic childbirth, PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, and Parental Stressor Scale (PSS) NICU. Quantitative results indicated that, only at high levels of stress, women who reported traumatic childbirth (68%) reported significantly higher PTSD symptoms [b = 18.00, standard error = 7.18, t = 2.51, P = .015, 95% confidence interval (3.65, 32.36)]. Qualitative analysis identified additional stressors maternal emotional well-being, dissatisfaction with care, infant health problems, breastfeeding, and additional characteristics of the NICU environment. Results provide supportive evidence that NICU mothers are at high risk for childbirth-related trauma and PTSD. Perceived stress related to the NICU may be an important intervention target when developing trauma-informed patient care. In addition to the domains captured by the PSS NICU, maternal emotional well-being, interpersonal relationships with NICU staff, and stress related to breastfeeding are additional areas for improvement in the family-centered NICU.Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) affect up to 20% of pregnant and postpartum women and can have negative sequelae for maternal-child health. Nurses with clinical and research roles are on the front line of efforts to assess for and assist with prevention and intervention with PMAD symptoms. Thus, they can play an essential role in enhancing the mental well-being of women in the perinatal period and maternal-child health outcomes. The aim of this article is to assist nurses in this work by outlining the Comprehensive Model of Mental Health during the Perinatal Period, a conceptual framework for considering clinical and research opportunities to enhance perinatal mental health. The framework uses key principles that recognize biopsychoneuroimmunologic mechanisms involved in mental health; the key role that the experience of matrescence ("becoming a mother") plays in mental health and maternal-child health; and the mother-infant dyad as the functional unit during the perinatal period. Examples are provided of how the key principles of this framework might be used to enhance research and clinical practice about PMADs and, ultimately, enhance maternal-child health outcomes.A standard format for depression management has long been the in-person group-based intervention, yet recent calls for scalable interventions have increased interest in individual online formats. However, the perspectives and preferences of women are largely missing in the literature. This secondary qualitative data analysis using a phenomenological method of inquiry explored the lived experiences of pregnant and nonpregnant women with depressive symptoms (N = 44) who participated in 2 studies involving group-based face-to-face mindful physical activity interventions for depressive symptom self-management.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/sbi-115.html  Four main themes emerged regarding the group format shared experiences enhanced the feeling of safety and impact of the group interventions; group instructors played a key role in fostering a safe environment; participants wished for more group interactions; and participants preferred a synchronous group-based intervention over a technology-based or asynchronous alternative for depressive symptom management. The findings from this study suggest that women with depression enjoy synchronous group-based interventions and find them to be beneficial for the shared experiences with other women and the safe environment created by group instructors. Future research should include study designs that consider these factors in the context of hybrid or fully online intervention formats for depression management.The objective of this evaluation was to evaluate the integration of behavioral health services at a freestanding birth center. Program evaluation included (1) retrospective health record reviews and (2) provider and client evaluation of satisfaction. In May 2017, an urban freestanding birth center initiated grant-funded integrated behavioral health services. Participants included women receiving perinatal care from May 2016 to April 2018 (n = 831). Clients (n = 414) and providers (n = 9) were surveyed through e-mail, with 166 (40%) and 7 (78%) responses, respectively. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Screening and treatment of depression were identified from health records. The on-site therapist saw 21% of women who birthed during the program's first year. Compared with the year before the program began, in the program's first year, more women were screened for depression at least once (401/415 (96.6%) vs 413/415 (99.5%), P = .002) and more women with an indication received treatment (62.5% [105/168] vs 34.5% [38/110], P less then .001). Provider and client satisfaction was high. The on-site therapist provided services easily integrated into the freestanding birth center practice, resulting in increased depression screening and treatment, with overwhelming client and provider satisfaction.The detrimental effects of prenatal stress on maternal-infant well-being have been well established and highlight increased concern for pregnant African American women. Research supports the notion that positive emotions may have a beneficial impact on the stress process and outcomes. However, the data have been largely restricted to non-African American pregnant women. This study's purpose was to examine potential relationships of both positive (happiness) and negative (stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms) emotions and pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukins-1β, -6, -8, -12, -17, tumor necrosis factor, and interferon-γ) in 72 pregnant African American women for a more complete picture of the stress process in this at-risk population. Results of this exploratory secondary data analysis show strong positive correlations between negative emotions and strong negative correlations between happiness and negative emotions. Interleukin-8 was positively correlated with negative emotions and negatively correlated with happiness.