More Than Baby Blues

Name of the activity: More Than Baby Blues

Country/NMO: Lithuania (LiMSA)

Program: Maternal Health & Access to Safe Abortion

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Capacity building and education

General description:

More Than Baby Blues is meant to raise awareness about maternal health with a focus on perinatal depression. The activity includes workshops for medical students and a panel discussion open to society with guest speakers that have experienced some form of perinatal depression. The activity is focused on having local impact, providing medical students and the general society with both basic and advanced information about perinatal depression and ways to deal with it on both individual and societal levels, including clinical recommendations.

Focus area:

Maternal mental health

Problem statement:

More than 90 percent of mothers face a condition called ,,baby blues”. In some cases prolonged baby blues may be the first warning sign of perinatal depression. It is often perceived as a trivial issue that does not require specific attention. Mothers are frequently expected to deal with the condition themselves, which can lead to self – destructive behaviour. Additionally, about 10% of family or close friends develop depression after being around mothers who are experiencing PPD).

Target groups:

General population, Medical students, Healthcare Students, Women

Beneficiaries:

General population, Medical students, Women

Objectives and indicators of success:

1) Medical students improve their knowledge in perinatal depression (–> at least 70% of the workshop participants state that they have improved their knowledge in perinatal depression; the improvement is evident in pre- and post-evaluation forms via comparative analysis)

2) Members of society improve their knowledge in perinatal depression (–> at least 70% of the lecture/discussion participants state that they have improved their knowledge in perinatal depression; the improvement is evident in pre- and post-evaluation forms via comparative analysis)

Methodology:

1) Lectures/workshops for medical students that take place in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania. Lectures are lead by experienced medical professionals. The first part of the workshop is presenting evidence based theory to the medical students. The second part of the workshop consists of doctor – patient simulations and clinical case analysis. The situations and cases may be created or taken from real – life experiences.

2) A panel discussion that takes place in Vilnius, Lithuania. The guest speakers are women that have agreed to share their experiences on perinatal depression. The discussion is moderated and the guest speakers answer questions that are submitted by the audience either before or during the panel discussion.

Plans for evaluation:

Evaluation will be carried out using Google forms before and after the event. The knowledge of the medical students will be evaluated using both open and closed – ended questions, such as using numerical scales in determining their knowledge about PPD. The knowledge and attitude of the panel discussion audience members will be evaluated in a similar way, using both open and closed – ended questions, such as using numerical scales in determining their knowledge about PPD, in addition to open questions about their attitude towards PPD. Numerical data of the participants will be collected via participant registration.