IN THIS NEWSLETTER:​

• Black Maternal Health Week
• World Maternal Mental Health Day
• Volunteer for the Warm Line!
• Mom Prom
• Partner Spotlight: BLKBRY
• DCYF Funding Opportunity
• Our Mother's Day Fundraiser

April 11-17 is Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW), and this year's theme is “Our Bodies STILL Belong to Us: Reproductive Justice NOW!" This is a week of awareness, activism, and community-building aimed at amplifying the voices of Black Mamas and centering the values and traditions of the reproductive and birth justice movements. Did you know that In the United States, 29–44% of Black women experience postpartum depressive symptoms, yet few are properly identified and/or connected to mental health care services? The Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) is a national network of organizations and leaders from the maternal health, human rights, and reproductive justice fields who like us here at Perinatal Support Washington, believe that every person deserves access to quality and holistic healthcare.

Learn more here: blackmamasmatter.org

May 1st is World Maternal Mental Health Day which kicks off Maternal Mental Health Month. Since 2016 a multidisciplinary group of international maternal mental health activists, academics, clinicians, and people with lived experience have come together once a year to raise awareness of this topic and demand maternal mental health services for all. With partners around the world, we hope to give more visibility to this problem, combat social stigma, improve detection and treatment, and to advocate for more resources for maternal and infant mental health.

Learn more here: wmmhday.postpartum.net

Come join our team of amazing Warm Line volunteers!

Everyday volunteers provide a lifeline to parent's who are struggling and feeling alone. Talking to another parent who has been through it reduces the isolation and stigma that many new parents feel. That is why we need you!

We are looking for volunteers to offer support, find resources, share stories, and to just listen. We provide all the training and guidance needed to volunteer.

We are recruiting volunteers for 3 positions:

• Live Answer Volunteer: Answer calls during a 4-hour weekday shift.
• Evening and Weekend Volunteer: Volunteer once every 5-8 weeks.
  Shifts are 2-3 evenings in a row or covering the weekend.
• On Call Dad Volunteer: Volunteers follow up within 24 hours.

Training will take place via Zoom, April 27th & 28th 9:00am - 1:15pm

If you have any questions or want to learn more before filling out the application, please contact the Warm Line Program Manager at  Victoria.cherniak@perinatalsupport.org

Our Warm Line and other PS-WA programs are underwritten by donations from individuals like you. Please support our work today!

Mom Prom is coming up on Saturday, May 18th!

Join us for a night of FUN to raise money for our work here at Perinatal Support Washington! Now in its 14th year, Mom Prom is a one-of-a-kind event focused on community and celebration. Each ticket includes a tiara or sparkly bowtie, one drink ticket, door prize eligibility, and dessert. You also get unlimited photos with the event photographer, and of course, the chance to dance the night away for a good cause. Take the night off and join us!

Meet our April partner spotlight BLKBRY

BLKBRY is a Black-owned and operated free-standing doula center, unapologetically and explicitly serving Black people and families. BLKBRY is building an intergenerational holistic wellness and healing space centering Blackness. They offer full spectrum doula support, classes, nutrition and food access, lactation and feeding support, and community milk sharing. Centered in community, BLKBRY also offers a community pantry, Black community support, peer support groups and community events. BLKBRY is a culturally responsive, evidence-based practice that intends to interrupt harm to Black people and families by providing full spectrum wraparound support during the reproductive, prenatal, postpartum and lactation periods, and by building power and autonomy through relationships of trust and holistic birthing knowledge.

Learn more here: blkbry.com

Strengthening Families Washington (SFWA) at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) in collaboration with Perinatal Support Washington (PS-WA), is pleased to announce that funding is available for perinatal mental health community capacity building! We invite Requests for Application (RFAs) from Washington State organizations interested in collaborative efforts to increase community-wide awareness and develop resources to support perinatal mental health.

The RFA guidance is available online HERE. The final day to submit questions is 5 p.m. on April 29, 2024.

Please share this opportunity with community partners and organizations throughout the state. We hope to have great reach throughout the state. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. on May 8, 2024. If you have any questions, please email strengtheningfamilies@dcyf.wa.gov.

Our Mother's Day Fundraiser is Coming Up!

This Mother's Day we hope you will share the love by making a donation to support the work we do in helping not only mothers, but entire families to heal from the trauma of perinatal mental health issues. 

A donation to Perinatal Support Washington in honor of those struggling right now will ensure the message “you are not alone” reaches someone who needs to hear it. As a bonus, every donation during our annual fundraiser will be matched up to $3,000 until Mother’s Day. We hope we can unlock this match with your help!

We are also interested in hearing your parenting stories! If you would like to share your story to be published for others to read this Mother's Day, please use this form to share your experiences and we will follow up with you.

Share your story here: bit.ly/PSWAstories

WARM LINE: 1-888-404-7763 (PPMD), Se habla español

Support, Education, Referral