Presented by Drs. Erin Berzins & Tina Sacin

1.25 LMHC CEUs
1.25 NBCC CEUs

This presentation is based upon an IRB-approved phenomenological study which was conducted in 2021-2022. The sample consisted of women from the United States (selected due to the uniquely poor public health response and high infection rate) who experienced pregnancies which began after the pandemic started. The purpose was to examine the unique experiences of individuals who went through pregnancy, birth, and early parenting experience entirely during pandemic conditions. A total of 19 interviews were conducted and coded. This study focused in particular on the experience of social support, due to the relationships between peripartum social support and health outcomes such as postpartum depression and anxiety, birth outcomes, stress, and parent-child attachment. The participants in this study identified many effects of the pandemic on their own experiences and the wellbeing of their families such as feeling invisible and forgotten by both close loved ones and society as a whole, experiencing low social support, feeling distrustful of their communities, experiencing a sense of loss and grief about the experiences that did not occur, losing bodily autonomy in the medical system, and having difficulty accessing mental health care. These themes will be reviewed utilizing participant quotes, to give visibility and voice to the participants. Implications for counselors will be discussed, with group participation requested to collectively brainstorm how to respond to the ongoing needs of these families as the pandemic changes and ultimately ends. Recommendations and resources will be shared.

This workshop was originally presented at NYMHCA's 2022 Virtual Convention: Summer of CEUs, and was recorded for future on-demand use.