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Connections

How a pregnant woman's mental health can affect child development

Four smiling women wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: the woman back left has shoulder-length brown hair and is wearing glasses and a light-colored blazer and black shirt; the woman front left has shoulder-length curly light blonde hair and is wearing glasses, a beige sweater, and black pants; the woman back right has shoulder-length blonde hair and is wearing a blue jacket and black shirt; the woman front right has short blonde hair and is wearing a long-sleeved black shirt
Evan Dawson
/
WXXI News
(foreground) Shawna Peterson, Lindsay Bonilla, (background) Leora Rozin, Kristin Koberstein on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Thursday, October 10, 2024

A growing body of research shows a pregnant woman’s mental health can affect fetal and child development. And perinatal health issues are on the rise.

What kinds of care are available and what should families know? We discuss it with a clinician and local mothers.

Our guests:

  • Kristin Koberstein, Ph.D., LMFT, PMHC, senior instructor in psychiatry and family medicine, and associate director of the Marriage and Therapy Training program at the University of Rochester Medical Center; and clinic director for Strong Behavioral Health at Highland  Family Medicine
  • Lindsay Bonilla, mother of one
  • Leora Rozin, mother of three
  • Shawna Peterson, LMSW, mother of three, and coordinator for the Nurture Program at Jewish Family Services 
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson" and is also the office administrator for radio, news and technology and operations. She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.