Target Audience:  Psychologists, cardiologists, paediatricians, and other medical and allied health professions. 

Content of the workshop: In this workshop, we will cover the topic of prenatal psychological risks, assessment and prevention strategies for mothers and fathers receiving a fetal diagnosis of congenital heart disease for their child. We will discuss the prevalence, characteristics and mechanisms of prenatal mental health morbidities in expectant parents and detail assessment tools, and support strategies that can be offered. We will also highlight the importance of psychological support and follow-up consecutive to the prenatal diagnosis of CHD, including how to engage in difficult conversations with parents regarding neurodevelopmental risks in their unborn child with CHD. Finally, we will discuss potential therapy strategies that can optimise prenatal parental mental health and children's developmental outcomes. 

The participants will learn: 

- The prevalence and characteristics of mental health vulnerability in expecting parents of children with CHD

- To identify prenatal and perinatal mental health symptoms in parents of children with CHD

- how to manage difficult prenatal conversations with parents regarding their own mental health 

- Tools on how to communicate the potential neurodevelopmental risks in the prenatal period

- Strategies to optimize perinatal mental health in parents receiving a prenatal diagnosis of CHD. 



Venue:
tbd
Research Building, University Children’s Hospital Zurich
August-Forel-Strasse 51
8008 Zurich, Switzerland