About Session
Session Description:
As rates of parenthood later in life continue to rise, perinatal professionals are increasingly supporting clients of advanced maternal age (AMA), typically defined as age 35 and older. While this population often presents with significant psychosocial strengths, advanced maternal age is also associated with unique emotional, relational, and identity-related challenges shaped by fertility history, medical complexity, and sociocultural expectations of motherhood. This 90-minute session examines the perinatal mental health needs of clients of advanced maternal age through an evidence-informed and clinically grounded framework.
Participants will explore common presenting concerns, including anxiety, grief and loss, perfectionism, and adjustment-related stress, and their implications for perinatal wellbeing. The presentation integrates current research with clinical case examples and highlights therapeutic interventions—including EMDR, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, mindfulness, and somatic approaches—that support emotional regulation, identity integration, and resilience. Attendees will gain practical tools to enhance assessment, intervention, and reflective practice when working with this growing population in perinatal settings.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify common psychosocial and emotional themes experienced by clients of advanced maternal age.
- Describe evidence-informed, culturally-responsive therapeutic approaches that promote emotional wellbeing and adjustment in this population.
- Integrate reflective and strengths-based frameworks into perinatal social work practice to support identity, resilience, and connection.
