Kickoff of the pioneering project Matter – Perinatal Mental Health

The kickoff of the pioneering project Matter – Perinatal Mental Health, coordinated by Dr. Teresa Reis, took place at the beginning of April, so the project researchers have already started the work that hopefully will yield important results in the coming years. It should also be noted that some of the members of this project will attend a microcredential offered by the University of Évora,  with the aim of training and raising awareness of the prevalence and importance of the impact of mental illness during pregnancy and postpartum. This training in “Basic Principles in Perinatal Mental Health”  created by the School of Health and Human Development of the University of Évora and with the financial support of the PRR, is aimed at researchers and professionals in the Health and Social areas, and will include several lectures on the relevance of screening and intervention in perinatal mental health, on all mental illnesses that prevail in the pregnancy and postpartum phase and for the brief understanding of psychopharmacological intervention in the perinatal period.

But what is the Matter’s project about? This highly important program aims to carry out the screening and early intervention of the parents' emotional distress during pregnancy and after birth. The program invites pregnant women and those in the first year of postpartum to receive screening questionnaires directly via SMS on their cell phones, in order to allow and facilitate monitoring by their family’s doctor and nurse, thus allowing you to know the state of mental health and properly support the patients during this challenging phase of their lives. This program also has as its main objective not only to centralize this implementation in hospitals, but also in Primary Care Health Units.

Several Units in the district of Évora were invited to implement the program, together with ULSAC (Local Health Unit Alentejo Central – Évora’s Hospital), also including the CPCJ (Commissions for the Protection of Children and Young People). Through these intervenients, it will then be possible to track and collect data in order to properly monitor Perinatal Mental Health. The intention also involves proposing implementation at a national level, taking into account future results and thus closing a “gap” that exists in the area of Perinatal Mental Health in Portugal.

This is a project promoted by the University of Évora and CHRC – Comprehensive Health Research Centre, in partnership/funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Instagram: @matter.perinatal

Website: Soon!