Journal for Prenatal & Perinatal

Psychology & Health

Over Three Decades of Research

Journal For Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (JOPPPAH)

JOPPPAH publishes research and clinical articles from the cutting edge of the science of prenatal and perinatal psychology and health. The journal, published continuously since 1986, is dedicated to the in-depth exploration human reproduction and pregnancy and the mental and emotional development of the unborn and newborn child. JOPPPAH invites original articles based on clinical work, experimental research, case studies, and self-report. Please review the guidelines for contributing authors by clicking on the link below and submit your articles to journal.editor@birthpsychology.com  We look forward to hearing from you.

*If you need assistance, please contact our managing editor at managing.editor@birthpsychology.com.

If you are a higher-education institution or a journal subscription service, please register here and you will be contacted by the journal managing editor for access information.  For questions regarding your institutional subscriptions, please contact journal.managingeditor@birthpsychology.com.

Access Instructions for APPPAH members:

  • Be sure that you are logged in, check the top of this page.
  • Once you are logged in, click Return to Member Portal.
  • In the Member Portal, click the JOPPPAH icon- Digital Journal Access.

Submit Your Article

Submission Deadlines are:
January 30, 2023
May 15, 2023
September 5, 2023

Special Issue: Patient Perspectives on Care

 Summer 2023

Kate Stahl-Kovell, Ph.D., Editor in Chief

 

Each summer issue, the Journal for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health dedicates an issue to patient experiences of care. Growing research in our field supports the theory that clinicians’ interactions with patients bear significant weight on not only patient mental health but the health and well-being of their child. The first two articles in our special issue posit the importance of staff interaction with pregnant or postpartum clients and patients. The researchers identified what qualities seemed most helpful to clients, from education and information about the client’s condition to helping clients be more confident as new parents. As a researcher, advocate, and mental health clinician who works primarily with mothers in the postpartum period, I cannot stress enough how pivotal our role is in providing a well-informed, kind space for mothers and birthing people, validating their experiences, and providing timely and research-driven information through a trauma-informed paradigm. Both studies indicate how the care clinicians provide can shape pregnancy, birth, and beyond.

In one of the first evaluations of service users’ experiences of community perinatal mental health in the UK, “An Evaluation of Perinatal Mental Health Treatment Experiences Using Patient Rated Experience and Outcome Measure (POEM),” Simone Davies, Psy.D., Rebecca Ison, Psy.D., Lucy McEntegart, MSc, and Tal Moore, Psy.D. investigated the experiences of perinatal clients in East England between 2017 and 2019. Combining quantitative and qualitative analysis with patient-rated experience measure, Davies et al revealed that of the 28% of service users’ experiences gathered, perinatal mental health support was highly rated by users and valued by the patients. Consistent with the bulk of current scholarly work on supporting perinatal mental health, the researchers found that users not only used but relied on supportive staff and especially noted if the staff were friendly, approachable, caring, and more. Though the authors call for more research, this study indicates that community perinatal mental health works.

Nichole Cubbage, MS, argues in “The Deliverance of Miscarriage Information and Fetal Loss in Multiple Pregnancies and Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS)” that protocol regarding VTS requires a significant shift. Cubbage writes that current standards of care do not compel providers to inform patients that a miscarriage is currently or will take place, though they are required to disclose risks that may affect treatment decisions. VTS is not uncommon, and yet there is no standard protocol for informing patients of the risks of VTS with twin pregnancies. Cubbage created a proposed model for providers to follow that incorporates necessary information on VTS along with resources if VTS should occur.

In “A Unique Approach to Healing After Birth,” JOPPPAH’s Peer Review Coordinator, Anita Horvath, MFT, interviewed Canadian Clinical Counselor Jennifer Summerfeldt on healing after birth. The discussion is frank, open, and curious—how do we show up for mothers and birthing people incorporating neuropsychology, the nervous system, and pushing back against disordered thinking? The interview dives into how personal experience can shape clinical perspectives and workshops how we as clinicians can safeguard clients’ informed choices.

In this issue, we are fortunate to bring you two book reviews of a new work from Robbie Davis-Floyd, Ph.D. and Licia Claire Seaman. JOPPPAH’s creator, Thomas Verny, MD, DHL (Hon), DPsych, FRCPC, FAPA, reviewed Davis-Floyd’s self-published book, Robbie’s Reader. Verny describes Davis-Floyd’s collection of stories as “undeniably compelling” and “brilliantly illuminating.” JOPPPAH’s Book Review Editor, Stephanie Cloutman, MS, reviewed Lullaby Wisdom. Seaman’s book combines interpersonal neurobiology and her expertise as a musician to help parents and caregivers utilize lullabies to soothe babies.

Lastly, it is a privilege to share “American Indian and Alaskan Native Maternal Mental Health” from Cindy Lee Herrick and Joy Burkhard of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health. Herrick and Burkhard summarize the disproportionate issues American Indian and Alaskan Native birthing people face, from increased maternal death to trauma, intimate partner violence, and inequities due to systemic racism. I give my thanks to Herrick, Burkhard, the Policy Center, and our Copy Editor, Christiana Rebelle, Ph.D., for this new partnership.

            A year into my role as Editor in Chief, we have taken steps towards more inclusivity, gathering momentum to consider patient perspective through quantitative and qualitative means. With this vision, we present our Patient Perspectives on Care journal issue, grateful for the authors’ contributions to stretching and honing our understanding of best practices of care.

            If you have quantitative or qualitative research, case studies, or clinical vignettes to share, submit them to journal.editor@birthpsychology.com by our September 5th deadline to make the Fall issue. Until then, we hope this journal reaches you in good health and spirits.

Special thanks to Managing Editor Jess Kimball and Copy Editor Christiana Rebelle for countless hours spent reworking the journal format, bringing JOPPPAH a fresh new look.

 

Happy Summer,

Kate Stahl-Kovell, Ph.D.

 

APPPAH's Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Policies

Guidelines for Contributing Authors

Manuscripts

The Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health accepts only original material that is not under consideration by any other publications. Articles should be word-processed and transmitted electronically as a Word document to the Editor. The Editor reserves the right to edit manuscripts for length, clarity, and conformity with the journal’s style. The author should retain his/her copy. American spelling should be used. The paper should be between 2,000 and 8,000 words with a 100–word abstract and at least three keywords. (See further guidelines for submitting a manuscript in the current APA Publication Manual (2020), specifically, “Author Responsibilities.”

 

The journal is interested in publishing theoretical and empirical articles utilizing data gained from clinical work, experimental research, case studies, and self-report. Among the areas of special interest are:

 

  • Psychological factors that affect conception, pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period;
  • The reciprocal mechanisms of interaction between the pregnant mother and her unborn and sentient child and the mother and her newborn;
  • The influence of the family, society, and the environment on the pregnant mother and her unborn child;
  • Evidence-based measures that will improve the emotional well-being of mothers, fathers, and newborns;
  • The psychological effects of medical technology during conception, pregnancy, labor, and birth on all parties concerned;
  • Methods of prevention and intervention/resolution of prenatal and perinatal traumas with children and adults;
  • Interfaces between prenatal and perinatal psychology and medicine, genetics, developmental psychology, anthropology, ethics, and the law.

 

Illustrations, Figures and Tables

 

All illustrations and tables should be included separately from the manuscript (in a separate document) and should be clearly identified in Arabic numerals, showing which is the top of the illustration if this is not obvious. Tables must supplement the text without duplicating it. Refer to APA publication manual for detailed instructions on tables and figures. Illustrations should either be black-and-white glossy photographs or India ink drawings. Tables, figures, and illustrations should include an appropriate title and be in jpg or png file format. Keep in mind the 6x9 finished size of journal pages.

 

Other Requirements

 

Please include 50-100 word brief bio (total for all authors), as well as complete contact information for all authors.

 

APA Style

Formatting and referencing must follow APA style. References should be limited to work cited in the article. All cited material should be on the reference list.

 

American Psychological Association (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.