Unique support group helps patients navigate pregnancy, postpartum and mental health

Alicia Music recalls not being "OK" following the traumatic birth of her son.

"I was off. I was not myself. I was surviving one step at a time," Music said. "I began trying to get medication help with a psychiatrist. I was not well. I was battling a lot of trauma."

Her trauma back then, about 11 years ago, included being diagnosed with a case of gestational diabetes so unusual that it has been highlighted at national conventions. Around the same time, she was involved in a serious car crash and had severe preeclampsia, which ultimately led to the emergency cesarean section and preterm birth of her son.

She was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental health condition that develops from chronic exposure to trauma.

When Music became pregnant again, she sought help for her perinatal mental health issues - but this time wasn't alone in facing her challenges.

She was referred to the maternal-fetal medicine division at UC Davis Health for high-risk pregnancies. She received medication and a referral to a weekly support group for OB/GYN patients who are pregnant or postpartum with a mental health diagnosis.

The support group is called Connected.

"We started this as a medication management group to provide weekly check-ins and medication refills for our pregnant and postpartum patients with mood and anxiety disorders. Over time, the group grew. So has the demand," said Shannon Clark, the doctor who treated Music for anxiety and depression when Music was eight weeks pregnant.

Clark, a UC Davis triple board-certified doctor in family practice, obstetrics and perinatal psychiatry, split care with maternal-fetal medicine physician and gestational diabetes expert Nancy Field.

Connected referrals come from across Northern California and joining the group only requires a consult with Clark's clinic.

For many patients, Connected has been a lifeline, providing support through mental health challenges that can arise unexpectedly during pregnancy and the postpartum period and touch people from all walks of life.

The only support group of its kind in the Sacramento region

Clark and Elizabeth DeFazio, an obstetrics nurse who is also a marriage family therapist, created this free service, which is the only one of its kind in the Sacramento region.

The group has about 60 active members with an average of 10 people who attend each week. Patients can attend the group up to two years postpartum. A host of trained volunteers help facilitate the sessions.

What began as an in-person support group, which included childcare for new parents, later transitioned online during the COVID pandemic.

But the format has remained the same since it launched in 2009: DeFazio starts the group with a 15-minute educational segment about parenting or the pregnancy or postpartum period. They do introductions. Each attendee shares how many weeks pregnant they are, their current medications and the urgency of their need to speak on a scale from 1-10, a system that ensures that Clark and DeFazio make time for those who need it most. Patients at the end of each session can get their medical questions answered.

Pregnancy challenges, postpartum depression and anxiety are common topics each week. Another frequent topic is the stress of having a baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, children with advanced medical needs and even the day-to-day family stressors at home.

"At Connected, I could be vulnerable, honest and open," Music said. "I felt validated by those other moms who were there each week. It was a safe place where we could share our own mental health challenges. We were all there for the same reason. We all could understand in ways that other family, friends and 'normal' pregnant and postpartum women couldn't."

Although it has been years since Music attended the group, she still keeps in touch with Clark and is close friends with many of the people she met there.

"Connected was there for me when I needed it most," Music said. "Dr. Clark and Elizabeth cared so deeply about this mission and about us. I don't know what I would have done without this group."