The Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative (FMMHC) opened its 7th Annual Perinatal Mental Health Conference Dec. 1 in Tampa, hosted by the FSU College of Medicine’s Center for Behavioral Health Integration and Professor Heather Flynn, chair of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine.

The three-day conference, a hybrid of in-person and online attendance, will address topics including perinatal mental health policy, health equity, updates on statewide policies, substance abuse disorders and grief and loss. Up to 18 Continuing Medical Education/Continuing Education credits can be earned.

Speakers include state Sen. Gayle Harrell, a Treasure Coast Republican who sits on a number of committees that deal with health policy; Kara Zivin, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School and of health management and policy at Michigan’s School of Public Health; and Jennie Joseph, a certified professional midwife, founder and president of Commonsense Childbirth Inc., and one of the 12 Women of the Year in Time magazine’s inaugural class of 2022.

Joseph was selected for the honor because of her commitment to correcting racial and socio-economic disparities in health care, through providing community-based care to pregnant women before and after they give birth and training the next generation of midwives.

FMMHC is a non-profit partnership established in 2015 by Flynn and social worker Lauren DePaola that brings together stakeholders “to ensure every woman in Florida and her family receive the help and support they need for optimal mental health and well-being.” Perinatal mental illness is the No. 1 health complication related to pregnancy and after delivery.

Florida State University’s Center for Behavioral Health Integration, which Flynn directs, is committed to promoting innovations through research and planning, as well as developing Florida’s future physician workforce to address mental health and substance abuse issues successfully in their practices.

For more information, go to https://www.flmomsmatter.org/conference.