D15 - Maternal Mental Health and Suicide Prevention: An Interdisciplinary Conversation About Opportunities for Improving Care

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM MDT

Location: 503

Suicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality in the United States, where maternal death rates exceed those of other high-income countries and disproportionately affect Black individuals, rural residents, and Medicaid recipients. A recent PCORI-funded project convened an interdisciplinary group to examine gaps in current approaches and identify how evidence-based suicide prevention strategies can be better adapted to the perinatal context. Findings underscored the need for broader more inclusive prevention frameworks spanning pregnancy through the full postpartum year and extending beyond traditional clinical settings to include community-based perinatal environments where trusted relationships and repeated touchpoints create opportunities for early identification and intervention. This session will provide an overview of these patient-centered, collaborative, evidence-based approaches followed by a moderated discussion reflecting on implications for research, practice, policy, and systems design across clinical and community perinatal systems.

Learning Objectives:

Identify perinatal-specific risk and protective factors for suicide across the prenatal and postpartum periods and across clinical and community perinatal settings, and describe evidence-based suicide prevention strategies to address these factors.
Discuss opportunities to design engaging and effective programs and interventions that incorporate individuals with lived experience and address the unique clinical, social, and structural challenges of the perinatal period.
Explore opportunities for medical, behavioral health and community perinatal settings to collaborate to engage in suicide prevention efforts for perinatal individuals.

Disclosure(s):

Julie Goldstein Grumet, PhD: No financial relationships to disclose

Sarah Nagle-Yang, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Zhandra Levesque, DrPH MPH: No financial relationships to disclose

Emily Johnson, MHA: No financial relationships to disclose

M. Camille Hoffman-Shuler, MD, MSc: No financial relationships to disclose

Breakout Presenter(s)

Julie Goldstein Grumet, PhD

Vice President and Director
Zero Suicide Institute at Education Development Center
Waltham, Massachusetts

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Slides
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Sarah Nagle-Yang, MD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry
University of Colorado School of Medicine

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
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Zhandra Levesque, DrPH MPH

Director of Maternal and Child Health
Education Development Center

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Emily E. Johnson, MHA

Lived Experience & Maternal Mental Health Advocate
Mission Just One Mom
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
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M. Camille Hoffman-Shuler, MD, MSc

Professor and Fellowship Program Director, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Psychiatry
University of Colorado School of Medicine

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose