On October 29th, 2024, the second National Perinatal Mental Health Symposium brought together over 125 diverse stakeholders to inspire cross-sector collaboration and encourage transformative solutions to perinatal mental health challenges.

To help perinatal health care providers better identify and treat mental health issues, the Daymark Foundation supported the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) in developing Canada’s first Clinical Guidelines for Perinatal Mental Health.

The Daymark Foundation has chosen Newfoundland & Labrador as the site for its pilot project, with insights poised to inform a nationwide rollout to advance perinatal mental health.

We commissioned a study to explore the impacts and uses of a maternal mental health social media platform, and found that it helped mothers become more aware of mental health symptoms, seek care, gain confidence as parents, increase self-compassion, and prioritize their own health and wellbeing.

Earlier this year, we proposed to facilitate the development of a sector-wide strategic plan for addressing perinatal mental health – starting with an initial stakeholder survey to help inform a high-level framework of goals, principles and priorities that stakeholders can rally around. Here are the key findings from the survey.

On November 22nd, 2023, we brought together over 70 government representatives and key stakeholders for Canada's first Perinatal Mental Health Policy Symposium.

Opening remarks from our Executive Chair, Lauren McCain, at Daymark’s National Perinatal Mental Health Policy Symposium on November 22nd, 2023.

The Daymark Foundation is looking to play a coordinating and facilitative role in surfacing, formulating and communicating key policy priorities in perinatal mental health to provincial and territorial governments.

The Daymark Foundation is committed to advancing population-level perinatal mental health in Canada over the next 10 years. Over the course of 2022, we spent time identifying the broader goals and outcomes we need to work toward, the strategies required by a broad range of stakeholders, and the role we think we could play in improving perinatal mental health. This post outlines our field-wide theory of change for perinatal health and the strategic pillars that the Daymark Foundation will prioritize.

The Daymark Foundation is initiating steps towards the creation of a multi-year doula mutual aid fund to support Black, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ Communities.

How can we increase access to doula care for Black, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ people in a sustainable way?

While a stepped care approach to mental health has been pursued in many jurisdictions, perinatal mental health is a unique context that warrants more specific discussion on how its concepts might be applied.

This recommendation was based on the false assumption that usual care during the pregnancy and postpartum period includes inquiry and attention to mental health and well-being.