Thriving Through Pregnancy: A Mental Health Town Hall

We’re thinking about how to improve our mental health care system for birthing people!
In this town hall we’ll discuss:
- Disparities in mental health outcomes for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities throughout pregnancy and the life cycle
- How to create a more inclusive mental healthcare system for all pregnant people and new parents
- Ways to advocate with NAMI-NYC, such as expanding maternal depression screening requirements, and postpartum care
- Together, let’s envision a world where pregnant persons thrive and have the mental health care they need! Scheduled panel experts include legislators, reproductive health specialists, and our Advocacy Ambassadors. Bring your questions.
Speakers include:
New York State Senator Samra Brouk represents the residents of New York's 55th District, which includes portions of Monroe County, including: East and West Irondequoit, Webster, Penfield, Perinton, Fairport, Pittsford, East Rochester & the eastern portion of the City of Rochester. Senator Brouk as Chair of the Senate Mental Health Committee and is the leading sponsor of recent legislation pertaining to maternal mental health and doulas to improve pregnancy outcomes.
New York State Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest represents the 57th Assembly District in Brooklyn, which consists of the neighborhoods of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill as well as parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. Phara is the daughter of Haitian immigrants and a lifelong resident of the 57th District. She was first elected in 2020. Before being elected to the Assembly, Phara worked as a maternal child field nurse, caring for new mothers after they gave birth. Phara lives in Crown Heights with her husband and son.
Tanya Naiken is a clinical social worker who has worked in public service to support women, children, and families in New York for over 20 years. Tanya is also a NAMI-NYC Advocacy Ambassador.
Nadia Mbonde is a Mad Black mother, scholar, mental health doula, and multimedia artist in Brooklyn, New York. A doctoral student in Sociocultural Anthropology at New York University, Nadia’s research addresses how perinatal mental health disparities contribute to the ongoing Black maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in the United States. As an artist, Nadia translates her lived experience through dance, film, photography, and digital art. Nadia is also a NAMI-NYC Advocacy Ambassador.
Alexandra Sacks, MD is a psychiatrist affiliated with the Columbia University Psychoanalytic Center for Training and Research and The Columbia Women's Mental Health Program. Her clinical practice focuses on psychotherapy/psychoanalysis and womens' mental health. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a graduate of Adult Psychoanalysis at the Columbia University Psychoanalytic Center for Training and Research, the Women’s Mental Health Psychiatry Fellowship Program at the Columbia University Medical Center, the Weill Cornell Psychiatry Residency, and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is an advocate and educator around issues of women's mental health via her TED talk, New York Times articles, Motherhood Sessions podcast and as coauthor of the book What No One Tells You: A Guide to Your Emotions From Pregnancy to Motherhood.
Learn more about our policy priorities, including maternal mental health: www.naminyc.org/advocacy.