Dr. Archana Vidyasankar is a reproductive psychiatrist in Newfoundland and Labrador. Her clinic is the first hybrid community based perinatal mental health clinic in Canada, which offers a multidisciplinary, stepped care approach including medical services, counseling and therapy,

wellbeing services, and peer support. She is the first

chair of the Perinatal Mental Health Alliance of NL,

which has led to the development of a

Government Task Force, which she co-chairs,

to help create an evidence-based infrastructure

to improve perinatal mental health care in NL.

Recently, she has also become the inaugural

Chair of the Perinatal Mental Health Canadian

Coalition, seeking to improve perinatal mental

health care on a national level.

 

Her work with the Innu Midwifery Program began with relationships and understanding the need for improving mental health for Indigenous mothers and parents who are chronically underserved and stigmatized, with a goal to bring up strength from within community. The culture, community and values of the IMP as well as the passion for change has created great conversations and understanding to help improve the wellbeing and support for mothers and babies’ mental health, and for generations of Innu families.