Community-Informed Approaches: Midwives & Doulas as Essential Partners in Enhancing Maternal Mental Wellness-View Presentation

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The American Psychiatric Association hosted a webinar focused on the vital role midwives and doulas play in promoting maternal mental health, particularly in marginalized Black and Indigenous communities facing significant disparities in perinatal care. Panelists emphasized the importance of culturally responsive, community-based care that builds trust and attunement through long-term relationships, contrasting with the often rushed and impersonal traditional medical model. Midwives and doulas provide holistic support, including emotional and psychological care, translating clinical tools into culturally relevant language and offering continuous availability—even outside typical hours—to address mental health concerns like perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). The panel highlighted systemic challenges such as inadequate screening tools like the Edinburgh scale, lack of accessible mental health referrals, and the need for integration between community birth workers and mental health professionals for warm handoffs and coordinated care. They also addressed burnout among birth workers, stressing the necessity of fair pay, peer support, self-care, and structural supports like teamwork and protected rest periods. Resources like perinatal psychiatry access programs and hotlines were shared as tools to support both families and birth workers. Overall, the discussion underscored that effective maternal mental health care depends on trustworthy, culturally sensitive relationships that fill gaps traditional healthcare often overlooks, ultimately saving lives and fostering equity.

Keywords

maternal mental health

midwives

doulas

perinatal care disparities

Black and Indigenous communities

culturally responsive care

perinatal mood and anxiety disorders

community-based support

birth worker burnout