GOLD Learning Speakers


Veronique Mead, MD, MA

  • Speaker Type: Perinatal Care Through a Trauma Informed Lens Lecture Pack
  • Country: USA

Dr. Veronique Mead was a family physician and assistant professor with an obstetrical practice before leaving medicine because she felt she was causing harm. Retraining as a somatic therapist provided insights through a comprehensive understanding of trauma. She has been aggregating the large bodies of evidence revealing how adversity influences health for two decades.

Dr. Mead has developed Adverse Babyhood Experiences (ABEs) to identify risk factors for maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, chronic illness and other effects. ABEs focus on risk from preconception to a child’s 3rd birthday to emphasize how effects of trauma are influenced by epigenetic and other nonpsychological mechanisms. Her focus highlights how opportunities for prevention, healing and repair are greater than has been recognized. Dr. Mead is a speaker, educator, and writer who shares the science on her blog, Chronic Illness Trauma Studies.

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Note: Currently only available through a bundled series of lectures
Adverse Babyhood Experiences (ABEs): 10 Indicators of Risk for Infant and Maternal Complications that Highlight Opportunities for Prevention and Repair
Maternal mortality rates are improving around the world but preventable deaths remain unacceptably high, such as in the US where rates are the highest of any developed country, continue to increase, and are associated with severe racial disparities. Adverse babyhood experiences (ABEs) are a new construct identifying 10 categories of adversity that increase risk for complications and death in mothers and infants. In this emerging era of trauma-informed care, ABEs provide opportunities to optimize resilience through practical strategies for prevention, treatment and repair. ABEs serve as indicators of risk for low birth weight, preterm birth, neonatal intensive care, and chronic illness later in life, among other poor outcomes for infants; and for miscarriage, still birth, other complications and negative outcomes for mothers, including postpartum depression, which is a leading cause of maternal death. ABEs further the science of adverse childhood experiences to highlight a distinct group of risk factors occurring prior to a child’s 3rd birthday. Attendees will be able to identify early indicators of risk in babies and parents; understand how effects of trauma occur through epigenetics and are not psychological; learn of practices for reducing risk in the sensitive periods before and after birth, and for repairing effects of ABEs later in life; and part with knowledge to inform choices in management and treatment interventions that optimize clinical outcomes.
Hours / CE Credits: 1 (details)  |  Categories: