Today is World Maternal Mental Health Day, and throughout May we’re joining advocates, survivors, providers, and families across California and beyond in raising awareness about a crisis that is both deeply urgent and highly preventable.
Perinatal mental health is not just personal. It is systemic. And it is solvable.
Last week, we saw what becomes possible when systems begin to align.
On April 28, CPWA convened more than 40 senior leaders across government, healthcare, and community systems for a California Perinatal Mental Health State Agency Roundtable at El Camino Health in Mountain View—the home of California’s only inpatient perinatal psychiatric unit.
We are deeply grateful to California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos, CMQCC, and El Camino Health for their leadership and partnership in helping make this moment possible.
Together, policymakers, providers, payers, advocates, and survivor leaders came together not only to name the gaps—but to begin identifying pathways toward a more coordinated and accountable system of care for California families.
This moment comes with urgency. Perinatal mental health conditions affect 1 in 3 mothers in California, yet most don’t receive timely treatment. Families continue to navigate fragmented systems, often falling through the cracks between screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up support.
And yet—we know what works.
The Roundtable was not an endpoint. It was a beginning. A step toward building a more connected, accountable system of care—one that reflects the realities families are living every day.
On May 20, we carry that momentum back into community.
From Pain to Power 2.0: A Perinatal Mental Health Convening on Storytelling & Systems Change
📍 Wellnest, South Los Angeles
📅 Wednesday, May 20, 2026
This convening brings survivors, providers, advocates, and policymakers into shared space—where storytelling becomes evidence, connection becomes strategy, and lived experience helps shape the path forward.
Together, we will gather not only to reflect—but to build.
RSVP for Pain to Power 2.0 Here
At the heart of this work is a simple truth: stories change systems.
Through our Breaking the Silence Storybook, families across California are naming what is too often unseen—illuminating both the harm of fragmented care and the possibility of something better. These stories are not just personal. They are a roadmap for change.
As we move through Maternal Mental Health Month, we are holding both the weight of what is—and the responsibility of what could be.
If you’re looking for a place to engage, we invite you to attend the convening. Share your story. Bring someone with you.
Because this work was never meant to be done alone.
With gratitude,
Cassie Gardener Manjikian, MPH
Founder & Director
California Perinatal Wellness Alliance
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