Randomized Controlled Trial of the Alma Peer Mentoring Program for Pregnant Women Experiencing Depression

Women have double the odds of getting depressed as men and commonly experience depression during the childbearing and early parenting years. Many new and expectant mothers who experience depression never receive help. Alma is a new program, collaboratively developed by a team of researchers, clinicians, and mothers who have personal experience with depression, to support women experiencing depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period. In the Alma program, mothers who themselves have experienced and recovered from depression during the perinatal period, are trained to provide peer mentoring to depressed new and expectant mothers. Peer mentors are trained by professionals who are experts in using skills to recover from depression. These skills are informed by an evidence-based framework called Behavioral Activation (BA). Peer mentors do not provide psychotherapy and are not licensed mental health providers.