From Screening to Support: How PCPs Can Tackle PPD
ACOG 2025: Joy Baker, MD, urged primary care clinicians to screen early, refer confidently, and help change the statistics on maternal mental health.
In part 6 of our 6-part interview series, Joy Baker, MD, leaves primary care clinicians with two key takeaways from her presentation at the 2025 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) annual Clinical & Scientific Meeting: you have the power to change outcomes, and you don’t have to do it alone.
She emphasizes that early and repeated screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), even before pregnancy when possible, can lead to earlier diagnosis and more timely intervention. But she also acknowledges that not every clinician feels equipped to manage complex mental health concerns—especially in pregnant or breastfeeding patients.
That’s where referral networks and “warm handoffs” become essential. Dr. Baker encourages providers to help patients access the right care, even if they’re not the ones delivering it. Mental health, she says, must be a shared priority across specialties if we’re going to move the needle on maternal morbidity and mortality.
Her closing message is a call for collective responsibility: “It’s going to take all of us—that means me as an OB, but also you as a primary care physician.” This final segment delivers both encouragement and a clear charge for action.
