Mind the Gap:
Supporting Moms and Families in New Jersey
Empowering Healthcare Providers: Community Calendar of Trainings
The purpose of this calendar is to educate healthcare providers (OB/GYNs, midwives, nurses, doulas, community workers, other allied health professionals) on Perinatal Mental Health (PMH) - the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity.
Browse Calendar, Register for Trainings, and Share with Others
“Thank you for these trainings on mother’s mental health. They are so vital to helping us providers stop and think about the patient in front of us and all of their experiences. It reminds us what we do makes such a difference and I feel more empowered thinking about how I can provide even better care after learning some of the strategies and insights you [PSI NJ] provided.”
-Nurse in NJ
Share your Trainings
Does your organization have PMH trainings for healthcare providers? Share it with us and we will add it to the community calendar!
Free Help and Support for Moms and Families
Moms, are you looking for support for you, your baby, and family? We got you covered! Below you will find a whole list of no-cost resources in NJ that are available to help you.
No-Cost Resources
This section provides a wide range of no-cost resources designed for healthcare providers to provide resources to patients & clients. These include access to support services, professionally designed flyers for patient outreach and PMH education, as well as essential contact information for healthcare providers to share with expectant mothers.
Who to Call for Help
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A free and confidential hotline is available 24/7, providing support in English and Spanish. The service offers a listening ear, connections to local support groups and organizations, and referrals to healthcare professionals when needed.
1-833- TLC- MAMA or 1-833-852-6262
More information here.
Support Groups
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Weekly virtual safe space for new moms & babies up to one years old. Serving Essex, Bergen, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Union & Warren county
More information here. -
Sistah's Who Breastfeed Is A Monthly Meetup for breastfeeding support for new black mothers.
More information here. -
Chocolate Milk Café is a national network developed by Black lactation, human milk feeding, and breastfeeding advocates and professionals to provide culturally congruent care to families of the African Diaspora. Using peer-led lactation support groups and professional development programs, we provide education and create sacred spaces to empower and advocate for Black families, on both national and local levels.
More information here. -
This virtual support group is open to mothers of color with babies up to one year old residing in the following New Jersey counties: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union, and Warren. The facilitator will provide information and resources for parents who have experienced a loss due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or sudden unexplained infant loss. This online support group is free of charge.
More information here. -
This virtual support group is open to mothers of color with babies up to one year old residing in the following New Jersey counties: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union, and Warren. The facilitator will provide information and resources for parents who have experienced a loss due to miscarriage, stillbirth, or sudden unexplained infant loss. This online support group is free of charge.
More information here. -
Mom Support Group where candid conversations along the intersections of Motherhood, Womanhood & Sisterhood occur.
Presenters are brought in to help navigate all of the parts of life from love and relationships, to finance to connecting with children and more!
The topics covered align with the month of awareness as well as the initiatives of the Melinated Moms community.
More information here. -
D.O.P.E Mamas – No mothers should navigate pregnancy and motherhood alone. D.O.P.E mamas stands for a mama who protects her mental health by Defying Others’ Perceptions and Expectations. Without shame or guilt, D.O.P.E mamas will gain access to therapists trained in mental health in a group or individual setting to support common challenges faced through motherhood including postpartum depression and anxiety.
More information here. -
Diagnosed with preeclampsia or think you at risk? Enroll in our program today for 1:1 support with a nurse
Financial Assistance and Free Baby Supplies
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Moms Helping Moms Foundation (MHM) is a baby supply, diaper and period supply bank dedicated to creating a future without childhood poverty by providing babies with the essentials to ensure a safe and healthy start.
More information here. -
Butterfly Fund Provides an Unrestricted gift of $2000 to help the family transition after a loss.
Assistance with additional fundraising to support family and child resources for grief counseling.
Connection of resources for fathers to assist with grief management. Collection of breastmilk for infant (as requested)Advocacy and support to seek justice in cases of medical neglect (as requested).
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The New Mommy Welcome Kit is for moms who have given birth within the last 3 months. Whether this is your first birth or your 10th, melinated moms want to show mothers the love and support in this new phase of their life journey!
More information here. -
MHM Partner Organizations & Resource List is a network of partners who distributes support items. Please contact an organization located close to where you live. The list below is sorted by county. Car seat information is at the end of the document.
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Tonita's Garden provides:
Financial support
Transportation
Classes (breastfeeding and Safe pregnancy)
Diapers, baby clothes, and other baby items
Blood pressure cuffs
Postpartum support
Resources for Moms
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Navigate Maternity 360 is a full-service remote maternal care platform that provides real-time data monitoring, personalized insights, and seamless communication between patients and healthcare providers. By integrating cutting-edge technology and user-friendly interfaces, Navigate Maternity 360 helps improve maternal health outcomes by closing care gaps and empowering early interventions. With solutions tailored for every step of the maternal journey, Navigate360 ensures mothers receive the care and support they need, from pregnancy through postpartum.
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My Hero's Journey Workbook gently provides a space, place and time for deep self-reflection and growth for anti-racist champions for babies and their caregivers. RRP offers a distinct approach to reflective practice through a racialized lens centered on the tough topics of culture, identity, race, racism, power, and privilege. The content of My Hero's Journey Workbook offers the reader structured worksheets, self-care experientials, journaling prompts, and reflective practices to untangle their own multicultural identities, unpack the impact on relationships, look backwards and forwards, take accountability, and stock up on rest, care, and resources for the continued long journey of this work.
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ACOG recognizes the importance of educational tools to help ob-gyns and other women’s health care professionals address perinatal mental health conditions. To this end, ACOG is sharing the Lifeline for Moms Perinatal Mental Health Tool KitTM, developed by the UMass Chan Medical School and reviewed by members of ACOG’s Maternal Mental Health Expert Work Group, to provide actionable information, algorithms, and clinical pearls to support detection, assessment, and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
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The Melinated Moms University is an integrated learning platform that incorporates the essential tools to become a better version of yourself as a Melinated Moms member.
The goal of the Melinated Moms University is to align with the personal and professional goals of our community members while also providing an empowering space for our community members to grow. -
Library of valuable resources on postpartum/ perinatal mood & anxiety disorders and after pregnancy loss or infant loss
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Mamas in Bloom is designed by and for Black mams to improve pregnancy, birth, and infant outcomes in Essex and Union County NJ. All mothers are eligible regardless of income. Families can enroll at any point during their pregnancy or within the first 3 months after giving birth. All mamas are provided with wrap-around support for the first year postpartum. The program combines education, advocacy, and clinical care provided by our team of nurses and community health workers. Families are contacted at scheduled points in their pregnancy and postpartum journey to receive education, support, and resources.
Local and National Organization Support
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The Center for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, part of RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group, cares for women who are pregnant, postpartum or who are coping with the loss of a baby. Our clinicians are certified in Perinatal Mental Health by Postpartum Support International.
More information here. -
Therapy for Black Moms is a teletherapy practice in New Jersey dedicated to supporting the mental and relational health of Black mothers from pregnancy to empty nest and everything in between
More information here. -
Perinatal Health Equity Initiative offers a hub of classes & initiatives for supporting Black mamas to THRIVE in pregnancy and beyond.
More information here. -
Connecting NJ is a network of partners and agencies dedicated to helping New Jersey families thrive. We provide mothers, fathers, grandparents, and guardians free or affordable access to people, organizations, and other sources of information needed to raise healthy children. Connecting NJ utilizes a county-based, single point-of-entry system that simplifies and streamlines the referral process for obstetrical and prenatal care providers, community agencies, and families.
More information here. -
Gateway Pregnancy Center provides compassionate help to immigrants during a pregnancy. We recently noted women seen from 47 different nations throughout the world
More information here. -
At Hey Black Dad, they believe that strong, prepared, and supportive fathers are the cornerstone of thriving families. Whether one is stepping into fatherhood for the first time or expanding their family, this is a trusted space to find the tools, resources, and guidance a father needs to approach fatherhood with assurance and purpose.
More information here. -
Centering Pregnancy combines health assessment, interactive learning and community building to help support positive behaviors and improve health outcomes for mothers and their babies and reduce racial health disparities. Centering Pregnancy is a nationally recognized model of group prenatal care shown to improve a wide range of birth outcomes including lowering risk or preterm births, reducing low birth weights and increasing breastfeeding rates.
More information here. -
With funding from the New Jersey Department of Health, Central Jersey Family Health Consortium (CJFHC) offers the New Jersey Postpartum Resources and Support Network. We provide emotional support, information regarding support groups for new parents and other resources, and referral to counseling services if desired. All services are provided free of charge. (We do not, however, provide behavioral health counseling directly.) We also provide grief support after perinatal loss. Bilingual staff members are available for those who speak Spanish. Phone interpretation services for other languages is also available.
More information here. -
The mission of Melinated Moms is to build a bridge of support that inspires, motivates and cultivates our members to be better versions of themselves. The vision for Melinated Moms is to equip moms and women across the Melinated Spectrum with the tools they need to remove the negative barriers associated with motherhood in women of color.
More information here. -
Family Connects NJ is a program that connects parents with a specially trained nurse for a personalized follow up visit at home within the first two weeks after their child’s birth. Visits are offered to all families at no cost, regardless of income, insurance or immigration status.
More information here. -
Our goal is to help pregnant and postpartum women living with SUD (Substance Abuse Disorder) sustain recovery, improve their mental and physical health, strengthen family systems, and continue to help rebuild and transform lives
More information here. -
TherapyStory's NICU baby nationwide sponsorship program that includes 2 packages filled with donations from sponsors
More information here. -
Nurture NJ has three primary objectives: (1) Ensure all women are healthy and have access to care before pregnancy,
(2) Build a safe, high-quality, equitable system of care and services for all women during prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum care. (3) Ensure supportive community environments and contexts during every other period of a woman’s life so that the conditions and opportunities for health are always available. -
The Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) is a Black women-led cross-sectoral alliance that centers Black mamas and birthing people to advocate, drive research, build power, and shift culture for Black maternal health, rights, and justice.
Share your Resources
Does your organization have additional resources for moms and families? Share it with us and we will add it to the list!
