BP Antonio Reynoso, third from left, with officers shortly after the launch of the lately introduced new Superior Certificates in Perinatal Psychological Well being.
Photograph courtesy Workplace of BP Reynoso
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Brooklyn Faculty President Michelle J. Anderson lately introduced a brand new Superior Certificates in Perinatal Psychological Well being (PMH) to arrange healthcare, psychological well being, early intervention, and early instructional professionals to assist pregnant moms and birthing dad and mom experiencing psychological misery. This system is the primary of its sort in New York State.
BP Reynoso and Brooklyn Faculty partnered to ascertain this system and designed the curriculum with Borough President Reynoso’s Maternal Well being Process Drive. Brooklyn Faculty will pilot two PMH programs this spring and host its first complete cohort in Fall 2025.
A rigorous, year-long program that features 120 in-person medical hours, Brooklyn Faculty’s PMH program will handle racial and socioeconomic disparities in entry to high-quality, complete, preventative care.
Designed with working professionals in thoughts, it includes a versatile and revolutionary synchronous on-line format, permitting college students to be taught whereas persevering with their careers. The multi-layered coursework has been meticulously crafted by a crew of consultants from Brooklyn Faculty’s Early Childhood Schooling/Artwork Schooling Division and its Departments of Psychology, Well being, and Vitamin Science in collaboration with Reynoso’s Maternal Well being Process Drive.
“Psychological well being is the main reason for pregnancy-associated loss of life in New York Metropolis proper now. That’s unacceptable and completely one thing we are able to and must be fixing for,” mentioned Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. ”Brooklyn Faculty’s Perinatal Psychological Well being program might be a key piece of the puzzle, and I am so grateful for his or her partnership on this battle to make Brooklyn the most secure borough within the metropolis to have a child. I can’t wait for college kids to start this unimaginable program and apply their information to caring for our borough’s new and anticipating dad and mom.”
“As one of many Borough’s longstanding anchor establishments, we’re honored to companion with President Antonio Reynoso and his Maternal Well being Process Drive on this important mission, and we deeply admire his steadfast assist of the PMH program, “Brooklyn Faculty President Anderson mentioned.
“We’re thrilled to develop this revolutionary curriculum, which seamlessly combines educational excellence with tangible, real-world influence. This initiative is a testomony to our unwavering dedication to offering compassionate, community-driven training and coaching that really makes a distinction,” she added.
“As New York Metropolis seeks options to deal with the maternal mortality disaster, it’s crucial we equip professionals with essentially the most up-to-date and revolutionary instruments to make use of within the discipline when supporting pregnant moms and birthing dad and mom experiencing psychological misery. As a doctor and Chair of the Maternal Well being Process Drive, supporting the event of a first-of-its-kind program within the State offers the chance for New York Metropolis to be a frontrunner within the battle to cut back maternal mortality and set a regular for culturally competent, high-quality care within the maternal well being area,” mentioned Dr. Wendy Wilcox, Co-Chair of Borough President Reynoso’s Maternal Well being Process Drive and Chief Girls’s Well being Officer of New York Metropolis Well being + Hospitals Workplace of Medical and Skilled Affairs.
“Psychological well being is a essential public well being difficulty that have to be prioritized. As somebody born to a mom who confronted psychological well being challenges all through her life, throughout and after her being pregnant, I actually perceive the significance of packages just like the Superior Certificates in Perinatal Psychological Well being. It is important for college kids to be taught concerning the social determinants of well being and the suitable functions of care via a culturally delicate, trauma-informed, and person-centered strategy. This angle helps college students grasp the distinctive wants of birthing individuals and moms because it fosters a way of security, respect, and validation throughout the group, finally encouraging people to hunt the care they want,” mentioned Christina Sparrock, Member of Borough President Reynoso’s Maternal Well being Process Drive and Chair of Reynoso’s Maternal Psychological Well being Subcommittee.
Over the previous twenty years, Black girls in New York Metropolis had been, on common, eight times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than their white counterparts. This partnership builds on Borough President Reynoso’s longstanding dedication to enhancing maternal well being outcomes within the borough. In his first 12 months in workplace, he allotted the whole lot of his FY2023 capital funding – $45 million – to Brooklyn’s three public hospitals for maternal well being enhancements. This marked the primary time a Borough President has ever allotted a complete fiscal 12 months’s capital funding to 1 trigger and inside one metropolis group.
In August 2024, Reynoso introduced a $50,000 ‘Neighborhood Child Bathe Fund’ to supply matching funds of as much as $5,000 to Brooklyn nonprofits internet hosting group child showers in neighborhoods with excessive maternal mortality and morbidity charges. Be taught extra concerning the Borough President’s maternal well being agenda at brooklynbp.nyc.gov/maternal-health-agenda/
Specializing in the training of future maternal healthcare employees, the Borough President hopes to work with companions, together with Brooklyn Faculty, in direction of a Brooklyn through which new and anticipating moms have entry to the culturally competent, high-quality care they want available of their personal neighborhoods. Responding to stark maternal well being inequity in New York Metropolis, this system’s curriculum facilities on understanding the social determinants of maternal well being outcomes.
