Perinatal-Focused Care

The perinatal process has an immense impact on one's physiological, mental and sexual health. Perinatal period and postpartum period bring about developmental changes, bio-psycho-social stressors, and changes in sense-of-self, body image and sexual desire. I work with perinatal clients to help them build safety and confidence through comprehensive education, pod-mapping and support network-building, processing fears and challenges, and addressing treating reproductive and sexual concerns. 

New parenthood can be an extremely taxing time. It won’t last forever, but life may look much different — it’s okay to ask for help and to receive help from others. Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) refer to disorders that emerge or become triggered at any point in the perinatal process. These include Depression and other Mood Disorders, Anxiety disorders, and OCD and other related disorders. I support clients in assessing, addressing and treating PMADs wherever they are in the perinatal process. 

All people have fundamental needs, but some of our needs are normalized while others are seen as “extraordinary” or “unreasonable.” Disability is an umbrella term to describe a range of medical conditions, mental health conditions and neurodivergent conditions. It's a way of describing how social systems fail to include people whose body-minds are different from what is considered “standard” or “healthy.” Ableism refers to "the system that assigns value to people based on how much [they] can produce for capitalism." Half of the world’s population is considered to be disabled. Disabled people are one of the only marginalized groups that anyone can become a part of at any time. I specialize in supporting pregnant disabled folks and new parents while abiding by Disability Justice principles. 

Within my scope of competence, I provide mental health and emotional support to individuals and families who are deciding to receive abortion care, seeking abortion care, receiving abortion care, and recovering after receiving abortion care. Mental health and emotional support is free of pathology and prescription. I support all pregnancy outcomes. I work to help clients experience autonomy that disrupts the patriarchal societal norm that decisions regarding one's body should be determined by anyone other than oneself. For more information about abortion care, you can visit my Perinatal Resources page.

My approach honors clients as whole beings, validating their mental and emotional experiences; and recognizing psychosocial impacts of medical gaslighting and identity-related abuse. I provide culturally-competent education and care, supporting individual and families through preconception and family-building options; processing identity shifts and their impact on relationships; and providing support through perinatal preparation, interventions and queer- and trans*-specific resource referrals. For more information about queer- and trans*-specific resources, you can visit my Perinatal Resources page.