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Mothers Strong
If you feel that you or a loved one may be suffering from pregnancy-related mood disorder, we strongly encourage you to reach out to your healthcare provider.
If you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby or if your pregnant/postpartum loved one is exhibiting frightening or bizarre thoughts/behaviors call 911 immediately. A phone call is the first, and sometimes the hardest, step toward getting well.
Mothers Strong is a group dedicated to bringing vital mental health information to moms and families in the North State area.
Call or Text Postpartum Support International to be connected with local resources
Support Groups
Butte County
Enloe Mother & Baby Care Center
Pregnancy & Postpartum Support Group: Getting ready for a new baby and parenting are exciting and important times.
Enloe’s Mother & Baby Education Center hosts this group that is led by facilitators, this group provides peer support to patients who are pregnant or have recently given birth. They provide active listening, validation and resources for further services in the community. Hear from other women and share your experiences.
This group meets every Friday from 3 to 4 p.m. at Women’s Services, 1665 Esplanade in Chico. If you need more information, please call 530-332-5017.
Virtual
Postpartum Support International
It is the vision of Postpartum Support International (PSI) that every woman and family worldwide will have access to information, social support, and informed professional care to deal with mental health issues related to childbearing. All PSI facilitated peer-to-peer support groups are 90 minutes in length and include education, information, and discussion.
PSI has over 20 different support groups for parents, here are some we'd like to highlight:
- Perinatal (Pregnancy & Postpartum) Mood Support for Moms
- Pregnancy Mood Support Group
To learn more about or register for PSI support groups visit their website at www.postpartum.net/get-help/psi-online-support-meetings/
Breastfeeding Support
Making a Plan to Breastfeed: (This session will cover pregnancy through one month of life. This session will talk about how your body makes milk, how to make more milk, different breastfeeding positions, how to tell if baby is getting enough, and how to get ready to go back to work/how to pump milk for your baby.)
All Sessions at Chico WIC Office, 2080 E 20th Street, Suite 180.
WIC participation is not required.
Find upcoming classes and registration here
Contact Information: 530-552-4025
La Leche League of Chico was created to help mothers in the Chico area, breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education. Parents can receive support in person at the weekly meetings, via the phone, or via email.
This group meets every Friday from 10-11:30am at St. John's Episcopal Church to offer help via FREE lactation services.
Contact information: lllofchico@gmail.com (530)-487-4109
Butte County Therapists
All local and online therapists listed here have received specialized training in working with women and families who are experiencing maternal depression and anxiety.
Aracely Munguia, LCSW 530-588-6432
aracelymunguialcsw@gmail.com
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: Yes
Methods of Payment: Private pay, Private Insurance Out of Network, California Health and Wellness Medi-Cal and Anthem Blue Cross managed Medi-Cal.
Other Information: Bilingual in Spanish and English.
Gail Garcia, LCSW 530-588-5817
gailgarcialcsw@gmail.com
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: Yes
Methods of Payment: Private Pay, Private Insurance, Managed Medi-Cal.
Sarah Frohock, LCSW 530-321-6523
sfrohocklcsw@gmail.com
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: No
Accepting New Clients: Yes
Methods of Payment: Private Pay, Private Insurance, Medi-Cal and Sliding Scale Fee, Contracted through Claremont EAP
Sue Matthiessen, LCSW 530-894-2238
suematthiessen@gmail.com
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: No
Methods of Payment: Medicare, Private Pay
Christina Mercy-Kemp, LCSW 530-570-9211
hospicemercy@yahoo.com
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: No
Accepting New Clients: Yes
Methods of Payment: Anthem Blue Cross, MHN and California Health and Wellness
Alisha Ready, LCSW 530-566-4498
alishareadylcsw@att.net
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: No
Methods of Payment: Anthem-Medical, California Health and Wellness and MHN
Sarah Barker, LMFT 530-282-5468
sarahbarkerlmft@gmail.com
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: Waitlist
Methods of Payment: Private Pay, Out of Network, Sliding Scale Fee
Emma Todd, LCSW 530-366-0755
emma@toddcounseling.org
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: Yes
Methods of Payment: Private Pay
Laura Swanson, MSW, ASW 831-818-8072
lswanson@tulatherapy.org
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: Yes
Methods of Payment: Private Pay
Maggie Anaya, MFT, PMH-C 530-896-9400 ext.1238
maggie.anaya@nvih.org
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: No-only native patients already established with Northern Valley Indian Health (NVIH).
Methods of Payment: Most Insurance Plans, including Medi-Cal.
January Giles, MSW, ASW 530-552-2105
admin@cloverleafcounselingservices.com
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Yes
Accepting New Clients: Yes
Methods of Payment: Private Pay, Victim Witness
Online Therapists
Online Dancy Perinatal Counseling
Learn More
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: No
Accepting New Patients: Yes
Methods of Payment: Private Pay, Medi-Cal, Cigna, MHN, California Health and Wellness, HealthNet, United HealthCare, Western Health Advantage, UBH, & Optum
Other: Services are available in Spanish. Dancy Perinatal also hosts a wide variety of support groups.
Online Open Path Psychotherapy Collective
Learn More
Telehealth: Yes
In-Person: Not in Butte County
Accepting New Patients: Yes- those that are uninsured or underinsured
Methods of Payment: Private Pay- $59 one time membership fee plus $30-$60 per session
Other: When using this site, go to "Find a Therapist" and select these filters to show only maternal mental health providers:
Type & Location- Online, California
Specialties: Perinatal & Postpartum Mental Health
Postpartum Support International maintains a provider directory for mothers seeking mental health services that only features professionals trained by PSI on Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders. The Provider Directory can be accessed at this link.
Online Resources
Mother's Strong Social Media
Mothers Strong Facebook page is a space where the Mothers Strong Coalition shares posts with information, reminders, and relatable content. Mother's Strong understands the importance of building strong families. Join the conversation and know that you are not alone.
Mothers Strong Café
Mothers Strong Café is a Facebook group designed to be a safe space where moms can support each other through the challenges of new motherhood. Questions and experiences related to postpartum depression and anxiety and local resources are welcomed. This page is designed to be an online forum for peer support, and not a substitute for mental health services.
Phone Support
Butte Behavioral Health Crisis Services
Immediately connects individuals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to a mental health professional for telephone intervention, information, or referrals.
Walk-in counseling is available 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., 7 days a week, including holidays, for individuals to receive face-to-face crisis intervention and assessment.
COVID Notice: Services are available via phone, video conference, or in-person with added illness prevention precautions. Please call ahead before coming to the clinic. When arriving for an appointment, please make sure that you have a mask. If you are feeling sick, please call your provider to make alternative arrangements (reschedule, virtual appointment).
988 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
The National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached via phone by dialing or texting 988 . National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline also offers an instant messaging option. To access the Chat, visit their website at www.988lifeline.org and select 'Chat' at the top of the screen.
National Maternal Mental Health Hotline
Staffed by licensed and credentialed perinatal mental health and healthcare providers, childbirth professionals, and certified peer specialists, the Hotline provides immediate and informed access to support, understanding, brief intervention, and resources to all pregnant, postpartum, and post-loss individuals AND their partners and families.
Call or text the Hotline anytime to connect. You do not need a diagnosis to reach out for help – we are here for you.
Postpartum Support Help Line
The Help Line can be reached via phone call or text message at 1-800-944-4773 (1-800-944-4PPD). Will call back within 24 hours. To reach the Spanish helpline individuals can call 1-800-944-4773 and press #1 or text 971-420-0294. PSI is not a crisis hotline but rather a Help Line.
Postpartum Support International is dedicated to helping women suffering from pregnancy-related or postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, including postpartum depression, the most common complication of childbirth. They also work to educate family, friends, and healthcare providers so that moms and moms-to-be can get the support they need and recover.
Medication Resources
Mother to Baby
MotherToBaby, a service of the non-profit Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS),is a trusted source of evidence-based information on the safety of medications and other exposures during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. They specialize in answering questions about the safety/risk of exposures, such as medications, vaccines, chemicals, herbal products, substances of abuse, maternal health conditions and much more, during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Their no-cost information service is available to people who are pregnant and/or breastfeeding, their family members, health professionals, and the general public via chat, text, phone, and email in both English and Spanish.
Infant Risk Center
The Infant Risk Center, located at Texas Tech, is a resource for medical professionals and mothers around the world. They work every day to answer difficult and often unknown problems for callers.They are almost always able to find a way to help moms find a needed medication while pregnant or breastfeeding.
Resources For Providers
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology + Lifeline for Moms
This toolkit provides actionable information, algorithms, and clinical pearls so that obstetric providers and practices can successfully address perinatal mental health conditions. ACOG recommends that all women be screened at least once during the perinatal period for depression and anxiety symptoms using standardized, validated tools. If women are screened in pregnancy, the recommendation is to also screen postpartum.Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program
The Obstetric Provider Toolkit was created to assist front-line perinatal care providers in prevention, identification, treatment of depression, other mental health disorders, and substance abuse concerns in pregnant and postpartum women. Download the toolkit here.
Postpartum Support International
PSI offers multiple trainings, including Frontline Provider Trainings, various webinar series, a Free Maternal Mental Health Webinar, and certificate trainings, with the most popular certificate training is the 2-Day Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Components of Care geared toward Mental Health and Clinical Professionals, First 5 Butte has professional development funds available to local professionals, to learn more about funding opportunities visit the Apply For Funding page on this website.
The Perinatal Psychiatric Consult Line is a free service available by appointment for medical professionals who have questions about maternal mental health care during the pregnant, postpartum, and pre-conception planning. The line is staffed by reproductive psychiatrists that are members of PSI and specialize in the perinatal mental health disorder treatment. To create an appointment call 1-877-499-4773.
Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Women's Mental Health
Every Wednesday from 2-3 PM EST, the Center for Women's Mental Health offers interactive virtual rounds for health care professionals. The virtual rounds include discussion around how providers think about treatment options with respect to presented cases and the decisions patients make about treatment before, during, and after pregnancy. Particular attention is given to the safest use of psychiatric medications during pregnancy, the postpartum period and lactation. To register for this resource visit the MGH Center for Women's Mental Health website.
MGH Center for Women's Mental Health maintains a resource page that includes links to online resources, professional organizations, and training materials and assessment tools that are useful for mental health and medical professionals when treating a mother for a PMAD. Resources on these websites include educational material for patients, diagnosis information for professionals and consultation lines.