Women’s Health Seminar Series: Specificity of changes and importance of maternal well-being during pregnancy

The Women’s Health Seminar Series features multidisciplinary research on women’s health. The goal of the series is to provide multidisciplinary training and mentorship to faculty, students, and community members across a broad range of women’s health research topics. Speakers present their research regarding the biological, psychological, behavioural, economic and social impacts on women’s health outcomes through a 45 minute talk and engage with attendees in an interactive 15 minute question and answer period. The series is open to anyone interested in attending.

This seminar features Dr. Tina Montreuil speaking on the specificity of changes and importance of maternal well-being during pregnancy. Among other things, pregnancy induces lasting changes in the mother’s brain structure and function; in particular, women lose grey matter. The presentation will explore the specificity of biological changes occurring during pregnancy that can critically impact maternal and fetal well-being and development and provide a rationale for why perinatal mental health should be viewed as a public health priority.