Best Practice

The MOMS Partnership

State/Jurisdiction: National
Setting: Community Virtual
Population: Families & Caregivers Women & Maternal
Topic Area: Access to Quality Healthcare Mental Health & Substance Use
NPMs:

The MOMS Partnership is an established program model that addresses maternal mental health needs for women who are pregnant and/or parenting children from infancy through adolescence, particularly those in communities with unmet needs. Launched in New Haven, Connecticut in 2011, the Mental health Outreach for MotherS or MOMS Partnership was designed as a public health approach to support maternal mental health as a critical element in the pathway to economic and social mobility for mothers facing economic hardship.

Today, the MOMS Partnership has evolved and scaled to new communities and U.S. states under the stewardship of the Elevate Policy Lab at Yale School of Medicine, with evidence-based interventions for women across the parenting lifespan, delivered using strategies that promote accessibility and engagement. The MOMS Partnership model includes:

• Evidence-based interventions to support maternal mental health and parenting, which focus on building skills through hands-on learning approaches, such as through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. The cornerstone of the MOMS program is the Stress Management Course in which mothers learn a range of CBT-based skills for managing mood and stress across eight group classes. Cultural and population-specific adaptations of this course are available.

• Group programming with a closed-group format, which fosters social connections and support for participants, further strengthening maternal mental health.

• A co-delivery approach that blends knowledge of a mental health professional (MOMS Clinician) with the knowledge and relatability of a trained peer (called a Community Mental Health Ambassador in the MOMS model) who brings shared experience and expertise. This co-delivery approach fosters trust and engagement and ensures that interventions are delivered with high quality and high relevance for the community served.

• Community-based and community-tailored implementation means that MOMS classes are offered in safe and convenient locations (or online) and through trusted community organizations, and that implementation is adapted and responsive to the local setting/context.



Back to Database

Implementation Handout



CONTACT INFORMATION
Elevate Policy Lab at Yale School of Medicine
Maria Awwa
maria.awwa@yale.edu
hilary.hahn@yale.edu

Practice Website