Pregnancy and the months after birth are a time of heightened risk for depression, and in rural Liberia few women in that period can reach mental health care. This phase, Restore Hope: Liberia began training three midwives to deliver Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) to women during pregnancy and after childbirth.
The training is led by Ana Claudia Andrade, our Clinical Lead, who also provides ongoing clinical supervision. The midwives are now seeing their first clients under her supervision. Every session is reviewed so the care stays faithful to the IPT model, and each midwife moves toward independent practice only once her competency has been observed and documented.
This work builds on our partnership with trained traditional midwives, who began referring women to RHL’s group therapy last year. Trained traditional midwives are among the most trusted people in their communities and already see women at the moments these women most need support. Training midwives in the clinic to deliver IPT brings mental health care to where women already receive maternal care, so they don’t have to seek it out separately.
It is also how the model grows sustainably: a skilled local workforce, trained to a clear standard and supervised by experienced clinicians, able to extend care to more women without building a parallel system.
