2020 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia- Psychosocial Support Program

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), along with its premiere Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment (CFDT), partnered with the Brianna Marie Foundation, to help ensure that the best practices for psychosocial support being developed at CHOP can be shared widely among families facing challenging prenatal diagnoses. At CHOP, their belief is that caring for families facing fragile pregnancies requires more than excellent clinical care – it requires whole self-care for the entire family, encompassing the mental and emotional health of the pregnancy and birth journey.

Joanna C.M. Cole, PhD, PMH-C, clinical psychologist and manager of psychosocial services helps to ensure patients receive truly holistic care. Dr. Cole and her team have since set the standard of psychosocial care for parents and families facing a prenatal diagnosis of a birth defect, implementing many innovative initiatives, and lecturing about their success worldwide. The CFDT’s Psychosocial Support Team (PST) now includes a psychologist, a perinatal psychiatrist, three social workers, one chaplain, one child life specialist, and one
resource coordinator.

Several of the initiatives championed by the PST align perfectly with the priorities of the Brianna Marie Foundation. Primary goals include ensuring that the necessary systems for support are in place for CFDT parents and families, and sharing established best practices with other clinicians and practitioners around the world.