Hannah Borst

Project Portfolio Description

Online CBT Program for Mothers with Postpartum Depression for WellMama

Well Mama is a Eugene-based non-profit organization dedicated to serving and supporting parents and caregivers. Their goal is to offer support, information, and access to treatment for any and all conditions related to perinatal mood disorders or mental health. Postpartum depression has a wide variety of symptoms and a wide range of severity. Currently, there is not much WellMama can do to help women through their postpartum depression other than offer referrals to counselors/doctors or provide peer-support, which is not proven to be the most effective form of treatment.

The incorporation of the MomMoodBooster program will help WellMama to fix this gap in service. It is an online 6-week cognitive behavioral therapy specifically directed to supporting and treating people with postpartum depression. Women are screened for and connected with the program through the WellMama text-support warm line. This allows people experiencing postpartum depression free and easy access to treatment that is usually quite limited and can be financially inaccessible to many. In addition to helping to reduce and relieve symptoms of postpartum depression in those suffering, WellMama can ensure they are doing the most that they can to serve their community. In the future, WellMama could make this therapy available to people utilizing services other than their text-support and do community outreach to promote the availability of this new program.