Abstract
Over the past 15 years my team has been working in the area of postpartum thoughts of infant-related harm and their relationship with mental health and infant safety. This topic has important policy and practice implication because of the potential implications both for parental mental health and infant safety. At present, it is not uncommon for new parents who disclose this type of ideation to be monitored for child abuse and in some case have their child removed from their care. This is despite the fact that data makes clear that new parents who report unwanted, intrusive thoughts of harming their infant on purpose are no more likely to actually harm their infant than parents who do not report these kinds of thoughts. What is true, however, is that these kinds of thoughts are highly distressing and a risk factor for the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder and depressed mood. This infographic represents the culmination of many years of research on this topic.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Nichole Fairbrother is a Michael Smith Health Professional-Investigator, registered psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor with the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia. She is the head of the UBC Perinatal Anxiety Disorder Research Lab (PARLab), one of the only perinatal anxiety research labs in Canada. Dr. Fairbrother’s research is in the area of perinatal anxiety disorders and epidemiology, with a focus on postpartum thoughts of infant-related harm and perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Current research activities include a CIHR funded study of perinatal anxiety and related disorder screening tools, a new study of postpartum harm thoughts and their relationship with OCD and infant safety, and several inter-connected studies of fear of childbirth. She is currently in the planning stages for a study of the mental health correlates of gender differences in the distribution of unpaid domestic labour and a randomized controlled trial of online CBT for postpartum OCD.
Event Details
When: Wednesday, April 25 from 12-1pm
Where: Zoom