The article addresses clinical, neurodevelopmental, and psychological experiences of pregnant parents to build the case for shifting therapeutic approaches to promote the earliest possible connections between parents and their infant. The article emphasizes the rationale for therapeutic interface with families in pregnancy as it relates to stress…

Prenatal maternal depression affects both mother and fetus with long-term implications for offspring vulnerability to psychopathology through alterations to brain development, stress physiology, negative emotionality, and cognitive control. This article reviews evidence for the negative impact of prenatal maternal depression on offspring…

The transition to parenting (Galinsky, 1987) can be a tumultuous time, particularly when parents have experienced traumatic and stressful life circumstances. Interventions to help these parents often focus on the first 2 years after birth because of the importance of this sensitive period for babies' developing brains. However, we describe…

The last decade has seen an exponential increase in the use of illicit and prescription opioids during pregnancy. Opioid dependency during pregnancy increases the risks of obstetric complications for mothers and potential dangers for newborns during infancy and later in life. The mother-child dyad faces specific hurdles when it comes to getting…

Parental substance use disorders negatively impact a child's development both prenatally and postnatally. Caregivers struggling with substance use disorders, and Opioid Use Disorder in particular, often have difficulty accessing appropriate holistic clinical interventions and are at high risk of losing custody of their children due to abuse and…

This article explores the many ways in which states can and are addressing racial equity in problem solving and policymaking. The authors explore national data that make the case for addressing bias and advancing equity in state policy; share strategies and best practices for engaging families and communities; and provide examples of policies that…

Substance use and alcohol abuse during pregnancy are significant public health concerns. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a withdrawal syndrome that infants exposed to opioids may experience in the first few days of life. For most infants with NAS, exposure to opioids occurs during pregnancy while they are fetuses. Similarly, prenatal alcohol…

During pregnancy, low-income women are at high risk for depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but they are unlikely to receive mental health services. As a follow-up to Narayan et al. (2017), we provide a detailed picture of pregnant women's mental health service (MHS) need versus utilization. Results suggested that the majority of…

This article reviews the research base on the development of prenatal attachment and profiles four programs that foster this essential prenatal relationship: CenteringPregnancy®, the Practical Resources for Effective Postpartum Parenting program (PREPP), Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP), and Moms2B.

There is good evidence that if a woman is depressed, anxious, or stressed while she is pregnant, then there is an increased risk that her child will have emotional, behavioral, or cognitive problems. Her own biology must cause these effects, but it is not known how. One important line of research suggests that the function of the placenta changes…

The Community-Based Family Administered Neonatal Activities (C-B FANA; Cardone, Gilkerson, & Wechsler, 2005) offers home visitors and expectant parents a new way to be together during the unfolding months before birth. Adapted from the hospital-based Family Administered Neonatal Activities (FANA; Cardone & Gilkerson, 1990), the C-B FANA…

As U.S. infant mortality remains relatively unchanged and maternal mortality is rising, it is increasingly clear that service providers need to address many of the modifiable risks that determine birth outcomes prior to pregnancy. Health professionals have promoted preconception care for decades as a way to improve women's and infant's health. Yet…

The prenatal period represents an opportunity to buffer the intergenerational transmission of adversity through integrated, comprehensive perinatal health services for women experiencing high levels of adversity and clinical symptoms. This article presents preliminary descriptive data, drawn from an ongoing clinical research study, on prenatal…

The fetal programming and developmental origins of disease models suggest that experiences that occur before birth can have consequences for physical and mental health that persist across the lifespan. Development is more rapid during the prenatal period as compared to any other stage of life. This introductory article considers evidence that…

Pregnancy anxiety is a particular emotional state tied to pregnancy-specific concerns, such as worries about the health of the baby and childbirth. A growing body of research demonstrates that pregnancy anxiety is an important risk factor for preterm birth and other adverse birth and child development outcomes. This article defines and describes…