The Mommy Café
Introduction
Upon becoming an MSW intern with Mpowered, a maternal mental health for-profit start-up, it was established early on that services needed to be expanded and developed. Thus was created: The Mommy Café. The Mommy Café is a landing page on the Mpowered website that would offer an array of virtual services for women on their motherhood journey. With the help of my field instructor, Catie Whiting (Mpowered CEO and Perinatal Mental Health Specialist), I developed a free online course “The Busy Mom’s Guide to the Anxious Brain” and launched our Podcast “The Motherhood Dilemma”.
The Busy Mom’s Guide to the Anxious Brain is a 3-part free online mini-course. Each lesson is about 20 minutes in length, and is designed to act as a self-paced therapy platform at home. This course uses a combination of evidence-based interventions and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to bring busy moms tools and activities that can transform their mental health. This course has been published on the Mpowered website and participants can sign up and begin at their convenience. Once participants have signed up, one lesson is released once a week from the sign-up date. It takes 3 weeks to complete this course.
The Motherhood Dilemma Podcast was created as a result of one of our many brainstorming sessions. As women at different points in our motherhood journey, we both have seen a huge lack in care and support for mother’s mental health. This is the dilemma of motherhood: Our culture looks at motherhood with a constant expectation of independence, perfectionism, and a “do it all” mentality. However, women and mothers cannot do it all, we cannot do it perfectly, and we cannot do it alone. This podcast hosted by mental health providers and perinatal mental health specialists attempts to find educated answers to begin to support these women navigating the million dilemma’s of motherhood. The Motherhood Dilemma is a podcast that is going to find answers, information, and stories to help bridge this gap of endless expectations with limited resources on how to get there. This Podcast is on-going and I will continue to produce new episodes with my field instructor every other Tuesday.
Social Issue
The social issue being addressed by this online course and podcast is the lack of care and interventions for mothers within the US. The courses found within the Mommy Cafe will not only address false beliefs of mental health for mothers, but educate these women on the need to prioritize their mental health first and how they can achieve this. As addressed in our Podcast, The Motherhood Dilemma, women experience a significant amount of pressure to take care of everyone around them, but often fail to consider themselves in this equation. Mpowered was first started because it’s founder, Catie Whitting, saw an incredible need for advocation and education on the importance of mental health for women on their motherhood journey, after becoming a mother herself.
Prevalence of Maternal Mental Illnesses
Another issue on the rise and that is incredibly significant is that the US has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in developed countries. According to the CDC.gov (2022) maternal mortality rates have increased from 754 in 2019 to 861 women in 2020.
Keeping all of these facts in mind, The US seemingly falls short in providing extensive policies for women to protect their mental and bodily health. For example, paid maternity leave is not required in every state. In fact, Tennessee does not require employers to give their employees paid maternity leave. Furthermore, maternity leave within the US is significantly shorter (averaging 2-3 month) than that of other countries around the world, such as Europe (averaging 6 months). Keeping this in mind, it is normal for pregnant and new mothers to experience minor mental health effects as a result of the many changes the body and mind goes through to have a baby. However, our system within the US promotes an environment where these women are unable to get the proper care they need to thrive postpartum, and receive the mental health care they need from the very beginning. As a result of the lack of care and understanding from our country, these women suffer the tremendous consequences of severe mental illness and the inability to move forward. Many women do not understand the prevalence of mental illnesses associated with being a mother. Women need more intervention tools and support. From the very beginning we aren’t supporting the mental health of our mothers, which is why these interventions have been created.
Interventions
Mission
In creating these two projects: an online course and a podcast, our mission is to reach as many moms as possible through interventions that are both accessible to everyone and applicable to any mom and woman no matter where she is at in her motherhood journey. Furthermore, it is our priority to abolish shame associated with motherhood, and provide support and educations for every mom, taking into account every diverse and unique situation: biological, step, adoptive, disabled, working, stay-at-home, etc…
Goals
The goals of The Busy Mom’s Guide to the Anxious Brain are to:
- Provide free access to tools from mental health and perinatal mental health specialists.
- Give moms a tool they can use in the comfort of their own home to start addressing the common problem of dealing with intrusive thinking and anxiety experienced in motherhood.
- Teach moms to re-wire their brain to process thoughts in a healthier way.
- Provide evidence-based tools and activities that mothers can realistically incorporate into any busy schedule.
The goals of The Motherhood Dilemma are to:
- Empower all women, at any part of your motherhood journey, to understand how to educate and advocate for their mind, body, and family!
- Solve the dilemma’s of motherhood by hosting different women and professionals to speak on different topics regarding women’s mental health/women’s bodily health/pregnancy/birth/and childhood.
- Bring power, confidence and ease to motherhood.
- Answer the questions: “What are the common misbeliefs mothers have brought into your practice?” and “How can your expertise specifically bring light to solving the dilemma: unreal expectations of motherhood?”
Intervention Tools
The Busy Mom’s Guide to the Anxious Brain is an educational and interactive course on identifying intrusive thinking, understanding guilt and shame, and conquering anxiety. Through collaboration with my field instructor who is a perinatal mental health specialists, we provide psychoeducation on these topics and create awareness of the prevalence of anxiety in motherhood. These lessons are taught by using powerpoints as visual aids. Each lesson comes with two downloadable/printable PDF Worksheets. One is a Follow-Along Worksheet intended to be used throughout the lesson, and the other is a Homework Worksheet intended to be used throughout the proceeding week. Throughout the lesson, participants are prompted to pull out their follow-along worksheet, and participate in any activities throughout the lessons. One example of a follow along activity used in this course is in lesson 3 participants are prompted to write down an affirmation on their worksheet, then say it aloud to themselves in a mirror. These follow-along activities are designed to be interactive and to give participants tools to practice throughout the week.
The Motherhood Dilemma Podcast produces episodes about 15-45 minutes in length, and hosts guests to speak on different topics. These guests may speak on topics such as: Women’s nutrition, Pelvic Floor therapy, Navigating motherhood as a step-mom or blended family, Home birth vs Hospital Birth, and much more… Ultimately, the goal of this podcast is to create a comprehensive un-biased resource for women to go to solve a dilemma or question they have.
Theoretical Perspectives
Systems Theory: This perspective recognizes all of the different factors that contribute to the emotions and hardships a woman experiences in motherhood. Furthermore, it informed me how to take a deeper look into the life of this population, and what to consider when assessing the needs of motherhood. Furthermore, there are many working parts in a woman’s environment that influence her motherhood experience.
Self-Discrepancy Theory: This theoretical perspective was used within the course to teach mothers about how unrealistic internalized standards can create emotional discomfort. When an individual’s “ideal” self and “actual” self do not align, then discomfort, disappointment, and sadness can follow. Both the Podcast and Online course aim to dispel unrealistic standards and expectations, and to teach moms a kinder approach to re-wiring this inner dialogue.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: This theory influenced our understanding of the complex needs of motherhood. Understanding the 5-tier model of needs, informed our understanding of why mothers continually experience a cycle of feeling like their needs are not met to the extent needed. Furthermore, what services we can provide that can help mothers work their way up to the 5th tier.
Conflict Theory: This theory states that conflict is unavoidable within social groups. Within our podcast, we aim to address the many “dilemmas” that are still being experienced within motherhood. By “dilemmas”, we mean: high expectations, lack of resources, lack of services, injustice and discrimination, lack of policy, and etc… Understanding this theory means realizing that many of these problems will likely continue for years to come and that new motherhood dilemmas may continue to arise.
Strengths Perspective: Weaved throughout our Course and Podcast, our main goal is to highlight the resilience and strength of women and mothers. By honoring the unique strengths and attributes of mothers, we empower them to create lasting change in their personal lives. This theoretical perspective is used throughout our services since we are dedicated to motivating our clients by emphasizing their value.
Literature Review
Areas of Need
The study “Needs Assessment for Creating a Patient-Centered, Community-Engaged Health Program for Homeless Pregnant Women” (2018) helped inform the creation of the survey questions for our Motherhood Needs Assessment. Although this specific study was focused on serving the homeless women demographic, their aim was to ultimately design a patient-centered service-learning program, which was also the similar aim we desired for our virtual course. Furthermore, there was a lack of research in this area. Researchers Ake, et al. found that the “5 most frequently identified themes were a need for pregnancy education, access/transportation, baby care, advocacy, and material necessities” (2018).
The study “Assessing the needs of pregnant women and mothers with severe mental illness: the psychometric properties of the Camberwell Assessment of Need – Mothers (CAN-M)” (2007), played a crucial role in understanding the common areas of need within this demographic. These researchers acknowledged that there is a serious “absence of standardized validated instruments to assess the complex needs of pregnant women and mothers with severe mental illness”(Howard, et al., 2007). This further confirmed that the course and podcast were necessary and needed to support the complex needs throughout the motherhood journey.
Effectiveness of Virtual Mental Health Interventions
When creating the course, it was discovered that there was a severe lack and basically non-existence in research regarding the effectiveness of virtual mental health services for mothers suffering from anxiety, depression, or any other mental illness. One study “Study on the Impact of Online Courses for Pregnant and Lying-In Women on Maternal and Infant Health during the Epidemic” found that about 85.97% of women expressed having mastered what was taught within the course (She, et. al, 2021). Furthermore, it was found to be an effective and convenient intervention for mothers during the pandemic.
Another study done by Zhao, et. al, (2021), aimed to discover the effectiveness of Telehealth interventions for women suffering from Postpartum Depression (PPD) and symptoms of Anxiety. They found that Telehealth interventions did effectively reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. It was concluded that this form of treatment could be a great option for women to have better access to these interventions anytime or at anyplace which could provide a safe-space for women who did not want to participate in face-to-face interactions because of the surrounding social stigma (Zhao, et. al, 2021). Overall, these researchers determined that more in-depth research needed to be done on specific interventions and therapies used within this type of virtual platform
Results
The Busy Mom’s Guide to the Anxious Brain
This is an on-going 3-week course that participants can sign up for at any time. This course will continue to be a service and resource that Mpowered can offer the virtual motherhood community.
At the end of each lesson a short required questionnaire is required for each participant to participate in. This questionnaire evaluates the participants anxiety base-line upon signing up, overall take-away, and feedback. Lesson 1 and 2 administer these short 3-question evaluations at the end of each lesson. Lesson 3 is the last class within the course, and has a longer evaluation at the end to measure the ultimate take-away from the entire course. These evaluations will be used to measure our successes and needed improvements within the course. Furthermore, it will inform future practice and course creation for Mpowered.
This course was completed and soft launched on the Mpowered website on November 1st. Multiple professionals, besides Catie and myself, have reviewed and validated the material. To this date, only specific individuals can be referred to this program since it has not yet been launched to the public. No members have signed up since the course will officially be launched on Mpowered’s public social media platforms after January, in the New Year. This is because the Mpowered business is currently undergoing construction, and finalizing it’s transition from a non-profit to an LLC. We want to provide this therapeutic tool to everyone, but first we believe it is our ethical obligation to make sure the business is in order. This is recognized as a normal part of the growth process for this start-up for-profit. Since this course is ongoing, results will continue to build once participants sign up.
Mpowered will pilot the evaluation when there are 20 respondents that have completed the course. Ongoing evaluation of services and questionairs will be completed every 6 months.
The Motherhood Dilemma Podcast
The first episode of The Motherhood Dilemma Podcast was also launched November 1st. This Podcast will continue to grow, and has already reached women and mothers that we’re not already aware of Mpowered and it’s services. The hope is to reach many new women so that they can join our podcast journey, and get involved in the Mpowered community. 3 Episodes have been released to this date, and in our third we hosted our very first guest. In the first week after launching there were 32 listeners and by December 4 we have reached 76 listeners. We are excited for our content to to continue to grow and expand with our audience.
Conclusions
After completing this project, there are several limitations that would need to be considered for the future. First, a big limitation was there was little research that had looked at the effectiveness online courses had on it’s participants mental health. Second, initially I had planned on releasing the course in the summer. I quickly found that this project was far more time-consuming than I had originally planned, and the course was instead launched on the 1st of November. Another big limitation was funding. All equipment we used to produce this project had to be purchased using our own personal funds or by using what we already owned. Another limitation was having access to good film and editing equipment to produce this course.
After completing this project, I have been able to pass along these experiences to my supervisor so that she can continue to create online courses for Mpowered in the future. Hopefully, through my various learning experiences, she can go on to improving the next course that is created. In the meantime, launching the Mommy Café landing page and it’s first course “The Busy Mom’s Guide to the Anxious Brain” has created a great foundation for Catie’s (Mpowered CEO) future courses and services. The Motherhood Dilemma Podcast will continue to be co-hosted by Catie and myself (on a volunteer basis).
It should be recognized that “The Busy Mom’s Guide to the Anxious Brain” course is a pilot, and still needs more research to prove that this is a valid and effective intervention for moms suffering from anxiety.
Competencies
Competency 1: Demonstrate Professional and Ethical Behavior
- Using technology effectively and appropriately to write course outline scripts, create power point presentations, create worksheets, and record audio and video.
- Used Wix.com website editor to create and design online course once materials were created and gathered.
- Included a disclaimer for participating in the course which can be seen on the “About” page here.
- Implementing and teaching self-care strategies
- Collaborating and communicating with professionals hosted as guests on the podcast
Competency 2: Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice
- The Motherhood Dilemma was created with diversity in mind with plans of addressing the unique experiences in motherhood such as but not limited to: social stigma, cultural differences, navigating motherhood as a step mom or in a blended family, pelvic-floor therapy, nutritional needs for women, and more…
- Creating a course specifically for mom’s, taking into account their busy schedule and lives.
- Available to women of all backgrounds such as but not limited to: minorities, vulnerable populations, women living in rural areas where they would not have access to this type and quality of information, and women all over the world.
Competency 3: Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice
- Creating a free and accessible mental health service to anyone who has access to the internet.
- Bringing awareness to maternal mental health, and educating moms on how to advocate and take action for their mental health.
- Helping moms work through mental health challenges, and as a result, serving the entire family and helping the growth and development of the children.
- Correlation between maternal mental health and childhood development as discussed in Lesson #1, slide 9.
Competency 4: Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice
- Reviewing and gathering literature to inform the creation of the Motherhood Need’s Assessment.
- The findings from this assessment then helped inform the creation of “The Busy Mom’s Guide to the Anxious Brain” course and the Motherhood Dilemma Podcast. Findings can be viewed here.
- Needs Assessment Findings presented to the CEO of Mpowered
Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice
- Informing stakeholders on how to advocate for themselves and their families and informing them on current policy within The Motherhood Dilemma Podcast
- Created petition for Maternity Leave in TN, advocating for this population
Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
- Promoted the Podcast on the Mpowered social media platforms
- Participants engage with follow-along activities within each course lesson
- Created mid-week check-in surveys for participants to complete in-between each lesson, which can be seen here.
Competency 7: Assess with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
- Designing a Motherhood Needs Assessment to measure the needs of the mothers within the virtual Mpowered motherhood community
Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
- Through using my knowledge of CBT learned in my clinical class, reviewing literature, and professional collaboration with my field instructor, this course provided pyschoeducation about anxiety specific to moms.
- Helping recruit guests and professionals to speak on the Podcast.
Competency 9: Evaluate with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
- Questionnaires were created to be taken directly after completing each lesson. Each questionnaire evaluates the participants anxiety baseline, what they have learned, and how they feel improvement can be made. The last questionnaire is more detailed and evaluates the participants overall takeaway and impact from the course. These questionnaires can be viewed here.
References
Nakić Radoš, S. (2018). Anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum: Course, predictors and comorbidity with postpartum depression. Acta Clinica Croatica, 57(1), 39–51. https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2018.57.01.05
Facts & Statistics: Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. Facts & Statistics | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Any anxiety disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder
Carberg, J. (2022, March 21). Statistics on postpartum depression – postpartum depression resources. PostpartumDepression.org. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.postpartumdepression.org/resources/statistics/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, February 23). Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2020/maternal-mortality-rates-2020.htm
Ake, T., Diehr, S., Ruffalo, L., Farias, E., Fitzgerald, A., Good, S. D., Howard, L. B., Kostelyna, S. P., & Meurer, L. N. (2018). Needs assessment for creating a patient-centered, community-engaged health program for Homeless Pregnant Women. Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews, 5(1), 36–44. https://doi.org/10.17294/2330-0698.1591
Howard, L., Hunt, K., Slade, M., O’Keane, V., Senevirante, T., Leese, M., & Thornicroft, G. (2007). Assessing the needs of pregnant women and mothers with severe mental illness: The psychometric properties of the Camberwell Assessment of need – mothers (can-M). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 16(4), 177–185. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.227
Shi, L., Yuan, L., Zhou, L., Zhang, S., & Lei, X. (2021). Study on the impact of online courses for pregnant and lying-in women on maternal and infant health during the epidemic. Journal of Healthcare Engineering, 2021, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/4019210
Zhao, L., Chen, J., Lan, L., Deng, N., Liao, Y., Yue, L., Chen, I., Wen, S. W., & Xie, R.-hua. (2021). Effectiveness of telehealth interventions for women with postpartum depression: Systematic review and meta-analysis. JMIR MHealth and UHealth, 9(10). https://doi.org/10.2196/32544