About
The mission of Maternal Mental Health NOW (MMHN) is to remove barriers to the prevention, screening, and treatment of prenatal and postpartum depression in Los Angeles County. MMHN was founded in 2007 by Kimberly Wong, Esq., following her personal experience with severe postpartum depression. Despite good healthcare and strong familial and social support, she struggled to find timely and informed help. Upon recovery, Kimberly convened a group of passionate and dedicated individuals — including people with lived experience, health care providers, mental health clinicians, public health experts, and more — to fix the perinatal mental health care system in Los Angeles County, with an emphasis on the area’s most vulnerable populations. The result of these convenings were the following three program areas:
TRAINING & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE – We provide customized training to any person that interacts with an expectant or new parent or family member, from a children’s librarian who hosts a weekly story time, to an OBGYN. Trainings address how to begin a conversation about perinatal depression and anxiety, how to screen for them, and how to provide culturally-congruent care.
STIGMA REDUCTION – Our posters, brochures, online emotional wellness tool, storytelling workshops, and public awareness events are designed to reassure all new parents who are suffering from depression or anxiety that it is okay to reach out for help.
ACCESS TO CARE – We advocate for policies and practices at the city, county, state, and national levels that ensure that all families have access to timely, informed, and culturally-appropriate perinatal mental health care.
