11 04, 2017

Afraid You’re Doing the Parenting Thing All Wrong? Watch This.

By |2019-11-18T14:30:34-08:00April 11th, 2017|Categories: Blog, Giveaways/Free Resources, Maternal Mental Health, Parenting|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

My friend and colleague, Pediatric Physical Therapist Wendi McKenna, is offering More Than Milestones: Understand Your Baby, Nurture Development Confidently, and Raise a Thriving, Happy, Healthy Child … with a Village of Support, a complimentary online training and video summit that brings together more than 20 child development, maternal, and family health experts, including me, to share our advice for parenting with confidence.

Link to register for the video series here.

My episode on “Mothering the Mother” airs April 28th and will be free for just a few days.

More Than Milestones Video Summit

Hear more from Wendi:

When it comes to parenting, do you ever feel frazzled in the everyday chaos of having a baby, toddler, or preschooler? Maybe you’re afraid you aren’t doing anything right … that you’ll end up “messing […]

18 02, 2017

Abby Burd, LCSW, San Diego Psychotherapist Talks with New Moms March 3rd

By |2019-11-18T14:30:35-08:00February 18th, 2017|Categories: Blog, Maternal Mental Health, Mental Wellness, Parenting|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Catch Abby in a free speaking engagement on March 3rd.

Maiden to Mother Group for New Moms in San Diego
Abby is honored to speak to new moms in San Diego on Friday, March 3rd, at the Maiden to Mother group at Nature’s Whisper. Abby is an LCSW and psychotherapist specializing in maternal mental health, which includes postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety and adjustment to the new role. Years ago, she used to lead this group, which encourages new moms to find support, community and new identity.
The group has continued on robustly, but recently, the facilitator and studio director reached out to Abby. The new moms have LOTS of questions and they are hoping Abby can help ease their anxiety. Some of the things the mamas have asked include:
  1. I think […]
6 12, 2016

TV News Clip: The “Bringing Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows Act” Passes the House

By |2019-11-18T14:30:35-08:00December 6th, 2016|Categories: Blog, Maternal Mental Health|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Update 12/8/16, 9:00am: The bill passed the Senate and Obama is expected to sign within two weeks!

KSWB Fox5 San Diego invited me back yesterday to talk about some exciting news in Postpartum Mental Health policy. Last week the US House of Representatives passed the “Bringing Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows Act” sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Katherine Clark.

Bill passes to help Bring Postpartum Depression Out of the Shadows

The new bill will provide funding to develop and maintain programs for better screening and treatment of postpartum depression, which affects 1 in 7 women. I shared in January about the US Preventative Services Task Force’s recommendations that all adults, especially pregnant and postpartum women, be screened for depression. This time, there’s money! […]

23 06, 2016

Paternal Postpartum Depression [Video Clip – News]

By |2018-02-28T21:10:33-08:00June 23rd, 2016|Categories: Blog, Maternal Mental Health, Mental Wellness, Parenting|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

Yesterday Fox 5 San Diego brought me back for a third time to talk about Depression. This time they wanted to hear more about Paternal Postpartum Depression. They were surprised to know that dads and partners are at risk for PPD, too. Many thanks to co-anchor Shally Zomorodi for helping raise awareness. You can watch the clip below:

Thinking About Getting Help for Paternal Postpartum Depression but Not Sure if You Have the Time?

One thing that I did not get a chance to say was that many parents think it is selfish or self-indulgent to spend time and money on themselves. But numerous studies have shown that fathers’ and mothers’ mental health greatly impact a child’s well-being. In fact parental depression affects emotional and intellectual development and has a lasting […]

11 06, 2016

Postpartum Health Alliance Update

By |2019-11-18T14:30:36-08:00June 11th, 2016|Categories: Blog, Maternal Mental Health, Postpartum Health Alliance|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The other night I enjoyed an evening of catching up with the executive board and members of the Postpartum Health Alliance. PHA is a San Diego non-profit that provides resources and support to new families and to the providers and agencies that serve them. The members and volunteers also happen to be lovely and fun people.

Postpartum Health Alliance Service

Gretchen, who remains the board’s President, surprised me with an award recognizing my year of service as the Communications Chair. Although I am not serving on the board this year, I stay connected as a vetted provider member and volunteer.

I have also enjoyed sharing the privilege of hosting the rotating perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD) study group this year. If you are a provider, student, […]

18 03, 2016

Better Body Image

By |2019-11-18T14:30:36-08:00March 18th, 2016|Categories: Blog, Maternal Mental Health, Mental Wellness|Tags: , , |1 Comment

Robin Kaplan, M.Ed., IBCLC, of the San Diego Breastfeeding Center, has been a wonderful influence in the lives of many, many San Diego women. She asked me to share some thoughts on how her clients can have better body image, especially after having a baby. In a guest post on her site I had fun sharing some of the latest research, my own thoughts, and referencing Elmo (the muppet.)

viewing body image after baby

I also got to pick the brains of therapist, Rachel Rabinor, and nutritionist, Lindsay Stenovec, and encourage women to subvert the dominant paradigm. I linked to A Beautiful Body Project, Jade Beall’s website sharing “truthful images […]

28 01, 2016

Abby on TV Today Explaining the New Depression Screen Recommendations

By |2019-11-18T14:30:36-08:00January 28th, 2016|Categories: Blog, Featured, Maternal Mental Health, Mental Wellness|Tags: , , , , , , , , |3 Comments

The United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated their 2009 recommendations on screening adults for depression on 1-26-16. In a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, they detail how ALL adults should routinely be screened for depression, and made particular mention throughout of the importance of screening pregnant and postpartum women.

I spoke with Fox 5 morning news anchor, Shally Zomorodi, this morning about what the recommendations mean.


This clip originally aired on Fox5 KSWB TV Morning News on 1-28-16 at 7:40am. Uploaded with the permission of the station.

So why is this news?

Live TV goes fast and something that I didn’t really get to explain is how big a deal this is. As JAMA […]

13 01, 2016

Interview on Nutrition Instincts

By |2019-11-18T14:30:36-08:00January 13th, 2016|Categories: Blog, Maternal Mental Health|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

As I mentioned briefly in my New Year’s Newsletter, Lindsay of Nutrition Instincts recently interviewed me about Postpartum Wellness.

Postpartum Wellness

Lindsay is a sweet individual as well as a registered dietitian nutritionist, certified eating disorder specialist and certified intuitive eating professional.

Here is a sample of the interview:

“Abby, can you share a little more about what you do and who you work with?

“Sure, psychotherapy, therapy and counseling are different ways of describing talking with a licensed professional for the purposes of bettering your life. I work with people from all walks of life, but I have a special place in my heart for women who are wanting to conceive, pregnant, postpartum, and parenting. For […]

15 11, 2015

How to Prevent Postpartum Depression

By |2019-11-18T14:30:36-08:00November 15th, 2015|Categories: Blog, Maternal Mental Health, Mental Wellness|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

The Ergobaby blog featured a recent article of mine on how to prevent PPD in both moms- and dads-to-be.

preventing postpartum depression

Please visit the Ergobaby blog to read the full article, including the difference between the “baby blues” and postpartum mental illness, easy steps to include in a postpartum plan, and how to know when to reach out for help.

8 09, 2015

Reframing Motherhood: The Photo That Doesn’t Get Posted

By |2019-11-18T14:30:37-08:00September 8th, 2015|Categories: Blog, Maternal Mental Health|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

New moms don’t put sad pictures up on social media.

I was honored when Katie Contrera, a graduate student in the Science/Medical Writing program at Johns Hopkins University, reached out to me for a therapist’s perspective on Postpartum Depression. Chatting on the phone with her, I loved hearing her passion for reducing stigma around peripartum mental health through her writing. Like me, she was interested in the role of social media and it’s ability to connect us yet make us less social. Katie sent me a copy of her article after turning it in for class. It’s good. And I’m honored that she let me publish it here.

Breakfast_in_Bed_(1897)_by_Mary_Cassatt,_Huntington_Library

Reframing Motherhood: The photo that doesn’t get posted

By Katie Contrera

It’s Mother’s Day—and you […]

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