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We are constantly learning more about the importance of mental health and its impact on the overall health of parents, children, and the entire family. More and more clinicians are getting trained in perinatal mental health, which is exactly what is needed. In today\u2019s show, we get a pediatrician\u2019s perspective of stepping in to help new moms, even though their primary role is to support and care for the child.\nDr. Natasha Sriraman is a pediatrician and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School. She\u2019s an attending physician, researcher, wife, and mother. Her main areas of research include breastfeeding, postpartum depression, and health disparities. Natasha is a strong advocate who lobbies for breastfeeding support in the workplace and postpartum depression screening within the pediatric setting. She researches, publishes, and speaks around the country about postpartum depression and anxiety, breastfeeding, and the importance of the mother in the fourth trimester. When not working, Natasha enjoys running, boxing, yoga, traveling, reading, and going to the beach with her family. In this episode, Natasha shares her perspective, experience, and knowledge of being a pediatrician who incorporates perinatal mental health awareness and screening into her practice as well as how her own experience prompted her to become a lactation consultant. We\u2019ll touch on how the added stress of COVID-19 is impacting families in receiving necessary care and how pediatricians can play an important role in perinatal mental health.\nShow Highlights:\n\nNatasha\u2019s practice and focus on perinatal mental health and the \u201cfourth\u201d trimester, based on her experience and difficulties as a mom\n\nThe unique opportunities that pediatricians have to engage with babies and mothers during the first year of a baby\u2019s life and \u201cbridge the gap\u201d for families\n\nWhy Natasha is screening moms even before the first six-week checkup for the baby\n\nThe delicate balance for a pediatrician of navigating the issue of a mom\u2019s mental health when the baby is your patient\n\nHow to differentiate between normal \u201cnew mom nervousness\u201d and postpartum depression and anxiety that requires help\n\nNew worries from pregnant women and new moms in the time of COVID-19\n\nExtra precautions in the doctor\u2019s office during COVID-19: taking temperatures and wearing masks\n\nHow Natasha navigates her work as a lactation consultant\n\nWhy patients should never feel like they have to choose between breastfeeding and getting treatment for anxiety/depression\n\nThe need for widespread education in perinatal mental health\n\nNatasha\u2019s hopeful message: \u201cIt\u2019s been wonderful to see moms achieve a level of comfort in talking to their physicians and pediatricians in the fourth trimester. One positive aspect of COVID-19 is increased access to virtual support groups.\u201d\n\nResources:\nNatasha.Mom.MD: Care For Kids, Empowerment for Moms\nFacebook: Natasha Mom MD\nNatasha Mom MD