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Interest in helping mothers-to-be led a doctor to Oklahoma City, where she is fulfilling her mission to aid women at a unique clinic.
Dr. Kalee Woody leads Mercy Clinic Perinatal Behavioral Health-Oklahoma City McAuley Blvd., Oklahoma’s first perinatal behavioral health clinic.
The clinic, which opened in August, aims to help women from pre-pregnancy to postpartum. The clinic’s goal is to help fill a gap in local maternity care, guiding patients through the unique mental health needs of pregnancy, childbirth and the first year with a new baby.
Woody, 33, said she was exposed to treating mental illness in women who were either looking to get pregnant, were pregnant or 12 months postpartum while in her psychiatry residency. She said it was during this time of training that she realized she enjoyed working with this specific population.
Woody’s mentor had opened a perinatal behavioral health clinic in another state several years ago, so when Mercy Health-Oklahoma City leaders reached out to Woody to tell her that they were starting a similar program, she accepted their offer to help launch a perinatal behavioral health clinic in Oklahoma City.
She said perinatal psychology is the study of, diagnosing and treating mental illness that occurs in relation to the menstrual cycle, which requires knowledge and understanding of the hormone changes during menstruation, or when someone gets pregnant, the postpartum period and perimenopause, “knowing how mental illnesses are worsened during those times and affected by those hormone changes.”
What the clinic does
Information from the new clinic helps explain the work being conducted there:
- “Perinatal behavioral health assessments can begin before pregnancy. Mothers-to-be with mental health issues, addiction-related concerns and certain medications can seek guidance and formulate a pregnancy mental health plan with the care team.
- “Pregnancy comes with a wave of changes to hormones and mental health that are less visible than the physical changes that occur as the baby grows. Existing mental health or addiction issues with previously predictable effects can change and new ones arise, but a perinatal behavioral health team has expertise and experience to help mothers and their partners navigate them.
- “The postpartum period in the first year after birth often comes with some of a mother’s most intense mental health challenges, with drastic hormonal and physical changes coinciding with the demands of caring for an infant. About three in four pregnancy-related deaths occur after the day of delivery, and the vast majority are preventable, according to CDC data.
Woody said many women face the “baby blues,” a hormone change that moms typically experience in the first two weeks after birth.
“It takes a little bit for those hormones to level out and of course, that comes with moodiness and anxiety,” she said.
Postpartum depression, Woody said, is generally when mothers experience feelings of despair or guilt or blame or they feel overwhelmingly negative after the expected two-week period of baby blues. The new clinic treats women with postpartum depression, among other mental health illnesses.
Woody said moms sometimes don’t get the support they need after childbirth.
“Historically, we’ve put way too much pressure on women saying ‘You should be fine, you should bounce back and you should take care of everything immediately,'” she said.
“I don’t think our society is set up to support moms after birth because what I see is that the depression, the anxiety, everything becomes more heightened when husband goes back to work or when family was visiting and helping. Women tend to take that personally and put that blame on themselves, like they’re not enough and that adds to it. So, a lot of education that I do with women is we talk about this is not all supposed to fall on you. Where can we reach out for help in different areas?”
Woody said the focus on perinatal issues is particularly vital because mental health conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She said there are several great psychiatrists in the city that practice a full scope of women’s behavioral health, but she is hoping to fill a niche that she feels is important.
“I’m only focused on perinatal because I think that’s something that is very much needed,” she said. “I think I’m the only one dedicated to the pregnancy and postpartum period right now.”
Woody said Mercy-Oklahoma City’s behavioral health has expanded to include the perinatal program but also other offerings, like a new general psychiatrist.
“We’re working on expanding behavioral health services to be able to partner with other Mercy physicians to provide wrap-around collaborative care and I think that’s really, really nice,” she said.
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