Health committee  We're testing it with the ECHO program right now. It's six sessions, so we're looking at, say, 90 minutes. It's already possible to increase the level of knowledge, and it's not just knowledge; it's the know-how. Sometimes, it's just validation of some information that people have gathered themselves, but having it in the context of formal training is enough to empower people to feel better about what they're doing.

Health committee  Yes, the United Kingdom and Australia have adopted national policies. In my previous life, I did a lot of psychosis work. Now, when a first psychotic episode occurs, a lot of work is done through the Access Open Minds network, for instance. It's based on an Australian model and really seeks to connect medical stakeholders and community stakeholders to create readily accessible clinics.

Health committee  That's a very good question. I'd say that, more and more, we develop protocols to be able to follow that. That's one of the things. If we were to have a continuum of care from preconception going forward, we'd be able to establish very strong causal models to address the question that you have.

Health committee  We developed this program that I referred to before. It was inspired by mothers and babies and is evidence-based worldwide but stems from Palo Alto in the U.S. We adapted it to call it Toi, Moi, Bébé. One of the first couple of modules is really that. We made these kinds of cartoons, and we were addressing a lot of societal, universal golden rules of how people experience transition to parenthood.

Health committee  We know, for example, that a number of issues affect marginalized women. I spoke about pre‑eclampsia or other types of inflammatory diagnoses that affect marginalized women in different proportions to the rest of the population. Sometimes, we look at these types of statistics and think that this proportion isn't very significant compared with other types of statistics.

Health committee  First, when we work with the women who contact us through the alliance, we can see that much more remains to be done in terms of post-partum follow‑up care. We recently recorded a podcast with a woman who said that post-partum follow‑up care for the mother doesn't exist. During the post-partum period, her child had 10 follow‑up visits with the pediatrician.

Health committee  I believe so. Absolutely. We also have a pilot project in Quebec. This project is funded by the Fondation de la recherche pédiatrique, or pediatric research foundation—formerly the Fondation des étoiles—and by the CHU Sainte‑Justine. The project is the ECHO program, an online telementoring program.

Health committee  It's a key component. In 2022, we carried out an activity with the Alliance québécoise pour la santé mentale périnatale, or Quebec alliance for perinatal mental health. We recently had the chance to share our results at an event organized by the Daymark Foundation, which brought together Canadian policy‑makers.

Health committee  I think the lack of Canadian guidelines when it comes to screening and providing care has led—across Quebec, for example—to very different types of programs being delivered based on the institution. For example, at Sainte-Justine hospital, where I happen to work, they have a stepped care approach.

Health committee  As I said at the start, it starts at conception and lasts until about 12 months after delivery, or roughly until the child's first birthday.

Health committee  I have results regarding what I said earlier. We have already carried out the work. In Quebec, an ongoing pilot project funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research seeks to provide an online intervention to improve emotional regulation and shed light on many of the changes that occur during pregnancy.

Health committee  Absolutely. We've already been able to address that it's a benefit to the woman during the pregnancy but also postpartum. As a benefit to the child, targeting perinatal mental health issues is optimal for their development, and it contributes to society from a human capital standpoint.

Health committee  Thank you. I am an associate professor at McGill University, in the department of education and counselling psychology, as well as an associate member of the departments of pediatrics and psychiatry. I am also a scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.