Telehealth adaptation of perinatal mental health mother–infant group programming for the COVID‐19 pandemic

The COVID‐19 pandemic and ensuing isolation stressed pregnant and postpartum women and their families pervasively. This necessitated addressing young families’ mental health needs while protecting both patients and providers from COVID‐19 exposure. Our experience of rapidly adapting Pregnancy, Maternal Postpartum Peer Support, and Mother–Infant Postpartum Group interventions to high‐quality telehealth modalities elucidates benefits and challenges of mother–infant dyadic treatment amidst the pandemic. This study compares 2019 in‐person and 2020 telehealth services during the period from mid‐March through mid‐December in each year. Initial program Warmline contacts were similar across years despite pandemic‐related restrictions, with 2020 program contacts surpassing the 147 unique patient outreaches during the commensurate 2019 period. Pregnancy Group enrollment remained consistent. Maternal Postpartum Peer Support Group participation increased with transition to telehealth with 27 individuals with over 100 group‐based visits in 2020. Twenty‐five mother–infant Postpartum pairs initially enrolled in the 12‐week multicomponent Mother–Infant Therapy Group (M‐ITG) during 2019 in‐person services, and 16 completed the program (36% non‐completion rate). During 2020 telehealth, 15 of 18 mother–infant pairs completed the program (17% non‐completion rate); a greater than 50% reduction in non‐completion. We further compare pre‐/post‐pandemic onset M‐ITG participant demographics, enrollment, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores. Resumen La pandemia COVID‐19 y el consecuente aislamiento estresó a mujeres embarazadas y en postparto y a sus familias de manera generalizada. Esto requirió abordar asuntos de salud mental de familias jóvenes mientras que se protegía tanto a pacientes como proveedores de estar expuestos al COVID‐19. Nuestra experiencia de adaptar rápidamente el Embarazo, el Apoyo entre Iguales al Postparto Materno y las intervenciones de grupo Madre‐Infante en Postparto, a modalidades de telesalud de alta calidad, esclarece beneficios y retos del tratamiento a la díada madre‐infante en medio de la pandemia. El estudio compara el servicio presencial en 2019 y de telesalud en 2020 durante el período de mitad de marzo a mitad de diciembre en cada año. Los contactos iniciales de programas de apoyo emocional telefónico con alguien en igual circunstancia (Warmline) fueron similares a lo largo de los dos años a pesar de las restricciones de la pandem