So I’m cheating a little here: this week’s read is actually an article that I wrote for PPHA about different terminology used by perinatal mental health providers.
I wrote it, so I’m a just a little biased. I wanted to help clear up a lot of the words and acronyms that we throw around, so it will be less confusing.
In health care, clinicians often have their own language that we spend years immersing ourselves in. It can be hard to translate this language out of “medical speak” and into terms that are helpful for our patients and clients. Unfortunately, every specialty within health care has it’s own terminology too! Even medical people can’t understand each other sometimes, which is why clinicians who want to specialize in caring for perinatal mental health clients should consider taking PPHA’s provider training or a similar course.
As patients, it is so important for us to ask questions to our providers when we can’t understand them. Don’t worry about sounding ignorant, because, most often, providers are trying to make sure they’re doing a good job at explaining things to patients. They want to know when you don’t understand what they’re saying! It helps clinicians learn how to be better providers of health care.
The article delves into some of the terminology used around mental health and pregnancy, so you can be better equipped to have a voice in your health care.