BOULDER, Colo. — The time right after a baby is born can leave new moms feeling joy and overwhelming happiness. It can also come with overwhelming sadness, anxiety and postpartum depression.
University of Colorado Boulder is now sharing a program for new moms designed to work around a shortage of mental health care specialists, long wait lists and cost.
Alma, a free peer-led initiative, connects mothers with lived experience to those seeking help. The university screens moms who want to help and then connects with new moms through community organizations and health groups like Kaiser.
“Parenting can be very joyful and it can be very stressful and isolating at the same time,” Anahi Collado, a research professor at CU Boulder, said. “So, connecting with someone else who has been there and who can say it's okay you're feeling the way you're feeling. And here are some tools that could benefit you could be extremely beneficial and positive.”
Professor Collado said the program was born at CU Boulder and they are working to expand it across the country.
The trained peer can connect a mom to more resources and also make sure the care is aligned with their parenting, values and making sure it’s culturally competent. Professor Collado said it also connects new moms to another mom who can relate on some of the toughest moments of becoming a parent.
The group has also been reaching groups of moms who don't always get the care they need.
“We've done a lot of work with the Latino community, and this is a community that experiences a lot of shortages, a lot of disparities,” Professor Collado said. “For the first time, they’re receiving mental health support.”
Alma is currently enrolling Spanish-speaking mothers and plans to expand to English-speaking moms this July. The program offers both online and in-person support.
Anyone who is interested can email almaprogram@colorado.edu or call 720-593-1406.
