Perinatal Social Work in the Prenatal Care Setting
Presenter: Janet O’Hare, LCSW-R
NASW-NYS Members: $30
NASW Other Chapter Member: $45
Non-Members: $60
This workshop is approved for 3.0 continuing education credit hour(s) for licensed social workers, licensed mental health counselors, and licensed marriage and family therapists.
Workshop Description
This training will enable social workers to make use of the invaluable perinatal period to help new families navigate childbearing, parenthood and the healthcare system. There will be strong emphasis placed on creating or enhancing a perinatal social work program in the prenatal care setting. Skills will be taught for coordinating patient care with the interdisciplinary team, from front desk to physicians. Participants will learn approaches for engaging with patients and families and for obtaining histories in a non- interrogatory manner. Participants will be taught to document in a way that is accessible and useful to other team members, with emphasis on perinatal issues such as pregnancy complications, birth plans, psychiatric issues and support systems. Participants completing this course will be well versed in red flags, such as Adverse Childhood Events and psychiatric problems in the histories of expectant parents and how to address them. Participants will be taught to make use of resources inside and outside the natural support system. This form of social work intervention should be available to all childbearing families — not just those labeled “high risk”. The course will be highly interactive and will encourage audience participation.
Learning Objectives
After the completion of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Describe the components needed to successfully integrate a social work program into an outpatient prenatal setting.
- Engage effectively with pregnant patients and their families.
- Create a safe, proactive plan for childbirth and postpartum that takes mental health issues and other risk factors into account.
- Document in a way that enhances interdisciplinary teamwork and focuses on perinatal issues such as pregnancy complications, support system and postpartum care plan.
- Collaborate with the interdisciplinary team to work effectively in the prenatal care setting.
This workshop is approved for 3.0 continuing education credit hour(s).
NASW-NYS is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (Provider ID #0014), licensed mental health counselors (Provider ID #MHC-0053), and licensed marriage and family therapists. (Provider ID #MFT-0037).
Janet O’Hare has created perinatal social work programs at four sites and has worked with perinatal issues since 1986. Her programs have included the first social work program for an out of hospital birth center in a poor urban community; expansion of that program to high risk mothers in a FQHC; a home birth service; and a hospital delivery midwifery program. She has worked in a NICU, has led a doula program and has served as a doula at dozens of births, all in an underserved area of the Bronx. She has worked with women’s issues and trauma since 1973. Janet has been active in professional perinatal organizations for over 20 years and has done many trainings for professional groups over the past 25 years. She received her MS in Social Work from Columbia University in 1984, and her LCSW-R in 2004.