Perinatal Social Work in the Midst of a Pandemic: Caring for Clients and YourselfStaff Support in a High Acuity Setting
If it were not for COVID-19, I would be home after another outstanding NAPSW conference and I would be exhausted and exhilarated after seeing good friends, having challenging discussions, and learning new skills! Instead, I am reminiscing about past conferences and missing my good NAPSW friends and colleagues. But the work of the organization goes on, and we will continue to work together and support each other through these trying times.
The officers and BOD of the organization met this past week, as they always do at the conference, but utilizing Zoom instead of conference tables. It was waves instead of hugs, and it was BYO coffee/tea and snacks!
UPDATE REGARDING THE NAPSW ANNUAL CONFERENCE - April 2, 2020
Dear NAPSW Members and Colleagues,
Registration will be available in February 2021 for the 2021 NAPSW conference in Chicago, Illinois, to be held April 28th through May 1st. Click here to learn more about the conference offerings, fees and accommodations and click here to download the conference brochure*. NAPSW members receive discounted conference fees — click here to learn more about membership and join today!
*Due to the rescheduling of this conference hotel fees, plenary speakers, workshop presentations and sponsors may change.
Health DisparitiesAward for Excellence Nominations
Best Practices for Emotional Care of Perinatal Loss
Joan Hebert, LCSW, of Orlando, Florida, has been awarded the National Association of Perinatal Social Workers’ Award for Excellence for 2019. Joan is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Florida. The 2019 Award was presented at the 43rd annual conference during the opening banquet on May 1 in Savannah, Georgia. Members Rasa Ragas and Joni Hardcastle nominated Joan and expressed their appreciation and admiration. Rasa said: Joan has devoted a good part of her professional career working as a perinatal social worker despite several changes and reorganization at her medical center. Plus, she enjoys ‘having fun’ as I observed her to be a great dancer! I remember dancing with her at the 2012 conference in Little Rock in the Peabody Lounge along with other conference participants. She has a great sense of humor! Joan has been an active member of NAPSW, serving as Secretary, two terms on the Board, and serving on other committees, too!
NAPSW is seeking workshop presentations for the 2020 annual conference in Chicago, Illinois, to be held April 29th through May 2nd. Specific areas of interest are: perinatal and social work ethics, enhancing social work clinical skills, difficult conversations with perinatal families, surrogacy, adoption, antenatal support, fetal diagnosis and support, NAS, end-of-life and bereavement, staff support, professional boundaries, cultural competency, perinatal social work research and NICU.
Please submit a one page, double-spaced description/abstract of the material to be presented, with three learning objectives. Include a cover sheet that contains the title, author’s name(s), professional credentials, phone number and email address. Click here for a downloadable flier and please share!
The 44th Annual National Association of Perinatal Social Workers (NAPSW) Conference will be held in Chicago, Illinois, April 29th - May 2nd, 2020 at the St. Jane Hotel, Chicago. Conference registration and hotel reservation information will be announced soon. Click here to learn more about membership benefits and to join NAPSW to be notified when registration opens and receive the membership discount rate!
What's Inside:
NAPSW is launching a recruitment campaign to celebrate social work month. Starting today through the end of March, new members will be able to join for half price and members who recruit new members will get $50 off their conference fees! We love our social workers and we love NAPSW!
The 43rd Annual National Association of Perinatal Social Workers (NAPSW) Conference will be held in Savannah, GA, May 1-4, 2019. Registration is now open. Click here to download the conference brochure. Click here to learn more about the conference and register. Click here to learn more about the benefits of NAPSW membership and to get a discounted conference rate. We look forward to seeing you this year in Savannah!
Conference Scholarships
NAPSW is pleased to offer several scholarships for it's 43rd Annual Conference, Walking Your Way Through Perinatal Social Work, which will be held in Savannah, Georgia from May 1 - 4, 2019. The scholarships will cover the registration fee and the funding is from the Stepping for Preemies Campaign.
From the President
NAPSW is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization whose mission is to promote, expand, and enhance the role of social work in perinatal health care and to strive for excellence in practice for the benefit of families around the time of birth. NAPSW relies on membership dues and donations to provide affordable yet up-to-date and relevant information about best practices. NAPSW welcomes your donation, which is tax-deductible as allowed by law, to support its mission. Donations go towards supporting social work education and can be made online by clicking here.
During the 2018 conference the advocacy committee received approval from the board to focus on the following areas of advocacy for 2018: prenatal substance use, perinatal mental health and parity, ACA repeal and replace efforts (focus on essential health benefits & Medicaid expansion). While the vote does not exclude the organization from supporting requests on other topics, it is the hope of the committee to promote conversations related to these topics at a state, regional, national or international level.
Is your area of practice addressing one of this year’s advocacy priorities? If so, we’d love to hear about it! Send an email to advocacy chair Mandy Wannarka at [email protected] and it could be featured in greater detail in a future forum issue!
The National Association of Perinatal Social Workers (NAPSW) joins our fellow organizations including the American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of Social Workers, National Perinatal Association and many others in their condemnation of the “zero tolerance” immigration policy being enforced by the current presidential administration. It the duty and ethical responsibility to address this harmful policy and rally perinatal social workers to speak out against acts sanctioned by policy.
The NAPSW Code of Ethics (2017) deems it a social worker’s imperative to “seek to prevent and eliminate discrimination against any person or group on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, marital status, political belief, mental/emotional/physical disability and/or any other personal characteristic or status.” Social work’s ethical principles include: 1) service: to help people in need and address social problems, 2) social justice: to challenge social injustices, and 3) dignity and worth of the person: to respect the inherent dignity and worth of persons. The current immigration policy of separating children from their families require social workers to acknowledge these acts as dismissing the dignity and worth of others and identifying this act as a social injustice. NAPSW implores its members, and other social workers, to act providing service to those in need and address this current social problem. Social workers’ ethical responsibilities require commitment to clients, promotion of their well-being and recognizing strengths in all cultures through cultural awareness and social diversity
