Who We Are

An advocate, community, and resource for the wellbeing of moms, birthers, and parents in Colorado.

What is “Perinatal Mental Health”?

Our community centers on perinatal mental health, a broad term that encompasses mental health challenges that moms, birthers, and parents experience leading up to parenthood and through pregnancy and their child’s early years.

The period surrounding the birth of a child is often one of the most difficult experiences a parent will go through. Pregnancy and the postpartum period surface immense transition and challenges–and so many parents go through it alone.

One in five women and one in ten men (we don’t have good data for nonbinary parents yet) experience a mental health challenge during this time. And, in our state, the leading causes of maternal death are suicide and accidental overdose.

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Our Mission

The Colorado Perinatal Mental Health Project (CO PMHP) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to transform Colorado into a state where every mother, birther, and family has access to quality, affordable mental health support by connecting families to resources, raising awareness, and offering opportunities for training and support for those who provide care.

Our Vision

A thriving, inclusive community of moms, birthers, families, and providers who support one another and heal together.

Our Values

Inclusion & Belonging

Come as you are. At CO PMHP, we all have a role in creating a nonjudgmental space, an inclusive environment, and emotional safety. We ask ourselves who isn’t being represented, and actively make space for those voices. Whatever your background or identity, we’re working together to make you feel seen, heard, a sense of belonging, and the power of having a community who understands you.

High Quality & Compassionate Care

Our providers are highly trained and specialized in perinatal mental health ready to provide compassionate care to you. This means that we see you as a human being and treat you in the same way we would want to be treated. Because you deserve that.

Respect

We honor and prioritize who you are, your lived experience. We know that mental health and medical systems can be at best prescriptive and at worst coercive. Here, you have the space and support to make choices about your own care.

Authenticity

When you come as you are, we show up as ourselves, too. We’re here to build a relationship with you and we hope to gain your trust. We’ll be transparent, clear, and honest with you and we won’t shy away from speaking vulnerably about the struggles that come with the perinatal period.

Trauma-informed

You are a whole human being with a lifetime of experiences that led you to where you are today. Having a baby doesn’t happen in a vacuum in isolation, without the influence of your past experiences. Our specialized providers are here to support you with this lens. We recognize that there is no hierarchy of trauma – no “worse” or “not as bad”. Learn more about what “trauma-informed” means here.

Social Justice

A mother or birther’s experiences during the perinatal period should be free of oppression in all its forms: racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and many more. Everyone deserves to feel affirmed and uplifted, and that is what we are making space for. You shouldn’t have to fight to be well; wellness during and after childbirth is your right and we’re here alongside you as partners and advocates.

Flexibility & Responsiveness

We are responsive to the needs of our community and change as needs change. In the same way, we are flexible and responsive to your needs. We’re in the business of breaking down barriers to accessing support, not putting up arbitrary boundaries that will keep us from growing in the long-run.

Our Work

CO PMHP’s work is multi-faceted. We offer support and programs directly to moms, birthers and to the providers, clinicians, and others who serve them.

We work in many spheres of influence within Colorado, including participating in advocacy, collaborating with a multitude of community partners that support mothers, birthers, and their families, and providing training and support for clinicians. In addition, we support all efforts that improve the quality of life for mothers, birthers, and their families.

Our “Why” is simple: Every woman, birther, and family deserves the mental health care they need to thrive during the perinatal period.

Included within this work are our direct service programs:

The Birth Squad

A community of mental health professionals and peer support specialists who are holding space for moms and birthers in their postpartum year. A peer is someone who has experienced and healed from a perinatal mental health challenge. The Birth Squad offers a variety of support groups throughout the Denver area, including affinity groups for LatinX/E and Black moms, and events that build connections among new moms and birthers.

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The Colorado Chapter of Postpartum Support International (CO-PSI)

CO PMHP serves as the Colorado Chapter of Postpartum Support International, providing access to resources for moms, birthers, and their families as well as scholarships and professional development and networking opportunities to providers in Colorado.

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Building mental health and birthing equity

Equity is at the center of everything we do at CO PMHP because we know that women and birthing People of Color (POC) are twice as likely to experience perinatal mental health challenges as white women and birthing people and, an estimated 60% of birthing People of Color do not receive treatment for their mental health.

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CO PMHP directly supports over 100 women and birthers each year through The Birth Squad and reaches 1,000s more with information and resources and through our work to support providers.

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Why Language Matters

At the Colorado Perinatal Mental Health Project, we all belong. It is core to our mission and work that we serve ALL parents and caregivers throughout our state and our language reflects those values.

The term "birther" refers to anyone who has given birth—including those who identify as mothers and those who identify as birthing people. We truly believe that every parent deserves support, care, and to be seen.

As Coloradans, we all want to live in a community where parents have the resources that are so deeply needed to build thriving families.

Race, Equity & CO PMHP

A few core values and beliefs guide our path in defining equity for our organization:

The work is not done until EVERY person who gives birth in Colorado has a birthing experience that is free of discrimination, prejudicial attitudes and the influence of oppressive systems and forces. Equitable treatment is not “special treatment” – it’s the acknowledgement that despite what might be considered “progress” – birth outcomes are not the same across different groups of women and birthers in Colorado. Read Maternal Mortality in Colorado, 2016-2020 to learn more about these disparities in our community.
Equity is not a project, fad, or trend. Ensuring that every woman and birthing person in Colorado has a birthing experience that is free of oppression is not a lofty ideal; it’s the core of the work.
With regards to equity work, meaningful conversations and intention are important; but actions matter more. From our perspective, everyone has a role in this work and whether those actions occur at a personal level, professional level, or systemic level – they matter.
Engaging in equity work is not about shame and blame; it’s about acknowledgement, power sharing, and change.