Peggy also focuses on counseling new parents to build up their marriage, which can often be strained after the birth of their first child.
After obtaining a master’s degree in social work from Smith College and a master’s degree in education from Bank Street College, Peggy let her desire to help children lead her to the healthcare industry.
“The social and emotional health of new mothers and their babies is an area of healthcare that has long been neglected in our systems of care,” Peggy explains. “It is my interest in the welfare of our most precious resources, our children, that led me to continue to pursue my career.”
But it was while she was leading a group of parents who were experiencing great anger that Peggy decided to focus her efforts on helping mothers through the stresses that come with having children.
“One mother who had been suffering for three years from an untreated postpartum depression realized that her life turned a dark corner after the birth of her son,” Peggy says. “She turned to the group and said, ‘if only I had known from the very beginning that I didn’t have to be a “supermom,” that I could reach out and call someone, I think I would have been a very different parent to my son.’ I made a decision at that time to channel my professional interests to providing support and interventions to mothers at the earliest time.”
For the past 28 years, Peggy has centered her career on aiding in services that focus on the emotional health of the new mother and her relationship with her infant. This includes clinical practice, consultation, and overseeing programs in this sector. Additionally, Peggy has passed her knowledge along to college students at Bank Street College, Lesley University, and Wheelock College, where she was an adjunct faculty member for over 25 years.
In her current position at Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Peggy also helps to provide programs that give infants the opportunity to learn through loving, caring relations, develop secure attachments, and explore and learn safely within their care-giving environments.
| Q. What do you enjoy doing when you aren't working? A. Whenever possible, I am outdoors: walking with friends, playing tennis, riding my bike. Q. Who is your role model? A. Harriet Tubman. Q. What songs are on your iPod right now? A. I don't have an iPod, and I imagine that I never will. I still listen to CDs. But, if I did have an iPod and was listening now, it would be to Mozart's Requiem or Pete Seeger's "Circle Song." Q. What's your favorite book? A. Daniel Stern's The Motherhood Constellation and Keri Hulme's The Bone People. Q. What's your favorite quote or saying? A. "Don't try to make a happy baby happier." |
“Our programs are founded on the belief that nurturing maternal strengths within a caring community promotes secure infant-parent attachments,” Peggy says. “We thus adhere to our philosophy that positive relationships create positive relationships. Babies grow in the context of the primary relationships in their lives, and supporting the healthy development of children means establishing strong connections with those children’s caregivers. The relationship between our staff, our volunteers, and the mother/baby is the vehicle through which the relationship between mother and baby is affected. In a parallel way, we believe that the more a mother can feel emotionally recognized and validated, the greater likelihood that she will be able to attune to the emotional needs of her baby.”
