Our professors - European Institute of Perinatal Mental Health

Ibone Olza, MD PhD

Holds a degree on Medicine and Surgery and specialized as a perinatal and infant psychiatrist. Associate professor at Alcalá University School of Medicine in Alcalá de Henares. During 19 years she worked as a perinatal and infant psychiatrist at public hospitals in Spain. Co-founder of the spanish division of The International Marcé Society, dedicated to research and promotion of perinatal mental health. She is also teaching in several university masters programs and works as an expert consultant for the spanish Ombudsman.

Professor and CEO at the European Institute of Perinatal Mental Health.

Ibone Olza, MD PhD

Perinatal and Infant Psychiatrist

Nils Bergman

Nils Bergman, MD PhD

Pediatrician, specialized in Public Health and Neonatologist. For 24 years he dedicated his time to the study, research and practice of Kangaroo Mother Care, not only for premature newborns, but also for babies born at full term, including in developing countries. He is internationally known for his research on Neuroscience and Perinatal Epigenetic, and for helping to establish the scientific bases of Kangaroo Mother Care. He also works as a lecturer and professor.

He participates in the EIPMH seminar Neuroscience and Epigenetics of Birth: clinical applications.

Nils Bergman, MD PhD

Pediatrician, specialised in Public Health. Neonatologist

Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg, MD PhD

Holds a degree on Medicine and has worked and directed researches on women´s health and physiology for more than 30 years. She is a pioneer researching on oxytocin, “the love and wellbeing hormone”, and was one of the first ones on showing the physiological, psychological and behavioral impacts of endogenous oxytocin during childbirth, breastfeeding and parenting, as well as in other moments in life. As a professor of physiology she focuses especially on the research of the curing potential of oxytocin.

She teaches the course titled: Oxytocin: Neurobiology of Maternity and Bonding

Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg, MD PhD

Medical Doctor, Researcher on the Physiology of Oxytocin

Ina May Gaskin

Ina May Gaskin is a midwife and one of the key figures in the worldwide movement promoting respectful childbirth, as well as she stands out in her role of empowering the midwife profession.

Originally from a country – the United States – where the profession of the midwife got eliminated when medicalization of childbirth was at its heighest, Ina May Gaskin knew how to resurrect the lost profession in the 70s, and recovered a way of getting involved again, being together with the woman during normal childbirth that had succumbed to the technological tide and the supremacy of the obstetricians.

Her book “Spiritual Midwifery” became the bedside book of many other professionals who also had the vision that attending births was more than just another medical act, and her school of midwives at The Farm, the only place in the United States where to learn the authentic craft. She knew how to connect with the ancestral wisdom of women who for millennia have helped to give birth to one generation after another, while incorporating the knowledge and current resources of science for a more humane and pleasant birth, but also for a safer one. She elevated the work of the midwife form profession to art.

Ina May Gaskin recapitulates the knowledge of a lifetime dedicated to childbirth, and transmits the wisdom from this experience, that goes far more beyond techniques and procedures, and deepens into the psychological, emotional, spiritual, social and gender aspects of the most important event and transcendent of the life of any human being: birth.

She is the author of several books and collaborator in the documentary “orgasmic birth”, which has helped to unveil the multiple levels of experience and the expanded states of consciousness that occur during childbirth and birth, when those can occure ina appropriate setting.

She teaches the course titled: Meeting Ina May Gaskin: the wisdom of childbirth

Ina May Gaskin

Midwife, Writer

Olga Gouni

Director of Cosmoanelixis. Psychotherapist and researcher specialized in prenatal psychology. Professor at the University of Kapodistrian, Greece; editor of the magazine: The International Journal of Prenatal & Life Sciences; author of the books “100 years of Prenatal Psychology” and “Stories from Embryoland”, among others.

Olga participates in the Prenatal Psychology course, also still available online.

Olga Gouni

Psychotherapist and researcher in Prenatal Psychology

Ana González Uriarte

Medical Psychiatrist in the Aragonese Health Service. Holds a degree in Psychology and Family Therapist. Educator in Child Massage. Especially involved in family issues, childhood, parenting and breastfeeding. She is an active member of Vía Láctea (Aragón) for 17 years. Co-author of the book Guía Cuídame para madres y padres (Guide care for me, for mothers and fathers) of the Government of Aragon and author of numerous articles on childhood, parenting and health.

She participates in the seminar Pospartum Psychology , Breastfeeding and Mental Health Training and in the course Parental Separation, Custody and Attachment in early Childhood

Ana González Uriarte

Perinatal and Infant Psychiatrist, Family Therapist

María Emilia Dip

Clinical Psychologist, currently working in the Perinatal Mental Health Program of the psychiatry department at Vall d ‘Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. She has been working with families for more than ten years, especially at the beginning of motherhood/ fatherhood. For a long time she was dedicated to obstetric psycho-prophylaxis in childbirth, accompanying families showing psycho-social risks. Specialized in Development and Family Focused Care through NIDCAP (Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program) as well as in Perinatal Mental Health. In her daily clinical practice, she provides psychological support and accompaniment during pregnancy and hospital stay after birth. She collaborates with different public and private institutions concerning Perinatal Mental Health issues, both in practice as well as teaching.

She participates in the course about Clinical Cases and in the seminar Postpartum Psychology II: the baby

María Emilia Dip

Perinatal Psychologist, specialized in prematurity (NIDCAP)

Patricia Fernandez Lorenzo

She works as a Clinical Psychologist in the Mental Health Services of the Principality of Asturias since 2004. She is also a Family Therapist and has been trained in other approaches such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Following her two maternities she specialized in Perinatal Mental Health, and is now teaching midwifery, psychiatry and clinical psychology students in this field. She is personally and professionally committed for making Mental Health issues visible and bring attention to the need for Mental Health Care for mothers and their families during the perinatal phase.

She participates in the seminar Pregnancy Psychology

Patricia Fernández Lorenzo

Clinical Psychologist, Family Therapist

Carmela Baeza

Medical Doctor, specialized in Family and public health; she is also a Sex Therapist. She obtained IBCLC title as a Lactation Consultant in 2005 and has been a member of ILCA (International Lactation Consultant Association) since 2004. She has also been an evaluator of the IHAN Initiative since 2006. She is the author of the book “Amar con los Brazos Abiertos” (to love with open arms), where she first writes about the sciencific aspects of breastfeeding (easy to understand for parents), and then treats everyday emotional issues in a way that is very helpful for mothers.

She participates in Breastfeeding and Mental Health Training

Carmela Baeza

Medical Doctor, Lactation Consultant IBCLC

Alfonso Gil Sanchez

Gynecologist in the past, Psychiatrist today. Awarded for his outstanding doctorate. Family and Systemic Therapist, with training and clinical experience in Reproductive Psychiatry and Perinatal Mental Health (Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Frauenklinik, Basel, Switzerland; Puerta de Hierro Hospital in Majadahonda, Madrid; Mother and Baby Unit, Perinatal Mental Health Service, Winchester, UK). Father of two and feminist, committed to improving health care in general, with special interest in transgenerational transmission of trauma and neurodiversity.

He participates in the seminars The Mental Health of Childbirth Professionals and Paternity and Perinatality: Challenges, Opportunities and Care

Alfonso Gil Sanchez

Perinatal Psychiatrist and former Gynecologist

Blanca Herrera Cabrerizo

Midwife at the University Hospital San Cecilio (Granada, Spain). Member of the Coordinating Group of the Humanization of Perinatal Care Project in Andalusia. Member of the Technical Committee of the National Strategy for Assistance at Normal Childbirth in the National System 2007, promoted by the Spanish Ministry of Health. Coauthor of the Clinical Guide of Normal Birth Attention of the spanish Ministry of Health. Expert in Sexual and Reproductive Health from the Antonio Machado de Baeza International University.

She participates in La salud mental de los profesionales del Nacimiento

Blanca Herrera

Midwife

Elena Serrano Drozdowkyj

PhD in Psychiatry, with training and clinical experience in mental health care during the perinatal period (Reproductive Mental Health Program, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and Hospital Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda, Madrid.) and mental disorders beginning in childhood and adolescence (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid). Since the beginning of her teaching, care and scientific career she has shown a special interest and dedication to early detection and intervention in the early stages of mental disorders, with participation in national and international research projects, in specific programs and in the publication of chapters of books and national and international scientific communications. She currently is an international representative of the Spanish Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health (MARES) and is part of the working group for the World Mental Health Day Declaration.

She participates in the seminar Psychopatology during pregnancy

Elena Serrano

Perinatal Psychiatrist

Esther Ramirez Matos

Psychologist, systemic-family and couple Therapist, Doula, Lactation Consultant, and Teacher for Baby Massage. She is a creator and facilitator for women groups and accompaniment in motherhood. She has worked in public medical services as well as in a private practice.

She participates in Breastfeeding and Mental Health Training

Esther Ramirez Matos

Psychologist and Sistemic Therapist

Javier de Domingo, PhD

Psychologist, perinatal therapist and tripadre. Founder of the initiative #siloshombreshablas that tries to generate more caring paternity and a more egalitarian masculinity. Co-author of the books “Men, Parents and a Child” and “Papiconcilia”. Disseminator, speaker and activist of the fight against machismo and gender violence as a partner of AHIGE (Association of Men for Gender Equality).

He participates in Paternity and Perinatality: challenges, opportunities and care

Javier de Domingo, PhD

Family Psychologist

Concha de Alba

Pediatrician and Neonatologist at 12 de Octubre Hospital in Madrid. Lactation Consultant IBCLC and for WHO/ Unicef. Co-writer of the guide “Cuidados desde el Nacimiento” (Newborn care), about recommendations based on evidence and best practice, published by the Spanish Ministry of Health.

She participates in Breastfeeding and Mental Health Training

Concha de Alba

Neonatologist, Lactation Consultant IBCLC

José María Paricio, MD PhD

Pediatrician. President of APILAM, Association for the scientific and cultural promotion of Breastfeeding. Founder and coordinator of the websites www.e-lactancia.org and www.telasmos.org. IBFAN collaborator in 2017. Member of the Health Advisory Board of La Leche League Int. since 2017 and member of the Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (2000-2013). He has collaborated with the spanish Ministry of Health in the Clinical Guideline on Breastfeeding (2017), the National Strategy for Sexual and Reproductive Health (2011) and the Clinical Guideline for Normal Childbirth Attention (2010).

Founder and president of the first Committee for the Humanization of Care at Gandia Hospital (Valencia) in 1984. Head of the Pediatric department for 20 years at the Marina Alta Hospital in Alicante, third hospital in Spain to obtain the IHAN accreditation (Baby-friendly hospital) from WHO/ UNICEF and member of the Neonatal Transport team of the province of Alicante for 15 years.

Author of the book Tu eres la mejor madre del mundo (You are the best mother in the world), 52 scientific articles, 301 oral presentations and 16 book chapters. Teacher in courses and speaker at conferences and congresses. He is passionate about breastfeeding and about safety among women’s wisdom.

Apart from being member of our advisory board, José Maria participates in Breastfeeding and Mental Health Training

José María Paricio, MD PhD

Pediatrician

Pilar Gomez-Ulla, PhD

Psychologist and Family Therapist (Federación Española de Asociaciones de Terapia Familiar). For more than a decade she has been working as a therapist in Familiae Psicoterapia. She is a family mother, also with children who died in the perinatal period, which made her to get involved by founding la Red El Hueco de mi Vientre. (The hollow of my belly)

She participates in the seminar: Pregnancy loss and Perinatal Grief

Pilar Gomez-Ulla, PhD

Psychologist, specialized in Perinatal Loss and Grief

Susana Carmona Cañabate

Clinical Psychologist and PhD in Neurosciences, she has been trained in national and international universities (Autónoma University of Barcelona, Columbia University, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and is now combining research and teaching. She has published more than 30 scientific articles and has participated in several projects (10 nationally and 4 internationally). Coordinates the Neuroimaging section in the Medical Image Laboratory of the Gregorio Marañón General Hospital in Madrid.

She participates in Psycology of Birth

Susana Carmona

Clinical Psychologist and Researcher on Pregnancy Neuroscience

Paco Herrero

Social Educator. Coordinator of the project Dinamo Acciò Social (Valencia) and responsible of the political formation of this association. Currently developing the Pedagogy of Care projects MATERNANDO and AGRODINAMO.

He participates in the courses Paternity and Perinatality: challenges, opportunities and care and Prevention, Accompaniment and Psychotherapy in the Perinatal Period

Paco Herrero

Social Educator

Belén Abarca

Graduated in nursing, and specialized in pediatrics she works as a NICU Nurse. IBCLC, monitor of La Leche League Int, she is also an evaluator of the spanish Unicef-IHAN (Initiative for the Humanization of Childbirth Attention and Breastfeeding). Researcher and teacher in breastfeeding for health professionals.

She participates in Breastfeeding and Mental Health Training

Belén Abarca

Neonatal nurse, IBCLC

Francisca Fernández Guillén

Lawyer in Sexual and Reproductive Health, focusing on patients rights and civil liability of health professionals. Abogada especializada en derecho de los pacientes y responsabilidad profesional de los sanitarios. Co-founder of the spanish childbirth association El Parto es Nuestro- “Birth is ours”. She received the Human Rights in Childbirth (HRIC) Champions Award 2019 for her contribution in the defense of mother and newborn rights at Spanish hospital maternity wards.

She participates in Breastfeeding and Mental Health Training

Francisca Fernández Guillén

Lawyer specialized in Sexual and Reproductive Health

Helena Eyimi

She leads local parenting and maternity groups. In 2008 he chairs the association El Parto es Nuestro(Birth is Ours). She studies nursing in Madrid and moves to the UK to do her midwifery studies, graduating in Midwifery by the University of East Anglia. She now works as a midwife at Cambridge University Hospitals and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals. Participates as a speaker in international conferences promoting the modernization of midwifery. She runs the British company Helena Eyimi Ltd, focused on continuing education for midwives.

She participates in Psycology of Birth

Helena Eyimi

Midwife

Cheli Blasco

Mother and doula. Since the intrauterine death of her daughter Luna she collaborates with Umamanita. Author of the book “Para Luna, de Mamá – escritos de amor y muerte“ (for Luna, from mama – writings about love and death) and collaborater for the online magazines Mirar al Cielo y Still Standing. She devotes herself to grief in mourning and has the privilege of sharing the journey of remembrance and healing with mothers and fathers who have lived (or are about to live) the death of their babies.

She participates in the seminar: Pregnancy loss and Perinatal Grief

Cheli Blasco

Doula and Perinatal Loss Support Groups Conductor

Máximo Peña

Journalist and Psychologist, specialized on Psychotherapeutic Intervention and mindfulness, author of the blog psicologiaparatodos.org.

I found out about perinatal psychology thanks to the birth of my daughter Maya, and her mother, Chus, who gave me the opportunity to accompany her in a planned home birth. That experience, of being next to my partner during her labor, of seeing my daughter’s head come to life, profoundly changed my understanding of birth, going from the misinformed prejudice of believing that “cesarean is the safest option”, to understand the importance of respecting the physiological nature of childbirth. I am convinced that the possibility of a better world is linked to that of a better childbirth.

He participates in Paternity and Perinatality: challenges, opportunities and care

Máximo Peña

Psychologist

Claudia Pariente

Graduated in information sciences Claudia is a Social Communicator, specialized in Public Health and Gender Issues. Since the birth of her first daughter, 23 years ago, she has focused her career towards communication in health and accompaniment to motherhood. Founder of Entre mamás, a company that she currently coordinates and directs, and that offers communication consulting services for health professionals and individually accompanies mothers in their different maternal processes. Birth activist and mother of three.

She participates in Prevención, acompañamiento y psicoterapia en el periodo perinatal.

Claudia Pariente

Journalist specialized in Public Health and Gender. Doula Trainer

Paul Cassidy

He is a researcher, currently writing a thesis on the social organization of perinatal grief, as a doctoral student in Sociology and Anthropology at the Complutense University of Madrid. He holds a master’s degree in Research Methodology in Social Sciences and a Bachelor´s degree of Business Administration from the Waterford Institute of Technology (Ireland, 1995). Paul is a board member of Umamanita and its principal investigator. He has carried out the first national study on the quality of health care after intrauterine death in Spain. He is also an editor of the Journal Muerte y Duelo Perinatal (Death and Perinatal Grief), and has contributed with his work to the International Stillbirth Alliance (ISA).

He participates in the seminar Pregnancy loss and Perinatal Grief

Paul Cassidy

Sociologist, Researcher on the social organization of Perinatal Grief

Juan Manuel Morillo

Doctor in Odontology. Master in Music Therapy. Expert in Emotional Intelligence. Training in Perinatal Mental Health. Expert in Health Promotion in the Community. For more than 20 years he has developed a teaching carrer in Vocational and Education Training (VET), mainly at University, within the field of Health Sciences, which he has combined with research activity. He has collaborated in different solidarity projects on a regular basis, accompanying people with addictions, HIV / AIDS, and others at risk of exclusion. After his training in Music Therapy, since 2014 he has been helping adults with emotional difficulties and mothers with babies, using musical improvisation as the main resource for connecting with emotions and supporting the process of integrating life experiences.

He participates in Paternity and Perinatality: challenges, opportunities and care

Juan Manuel Morillo

Musical Therapist

Cristina Cortés

Psychologist and Psychotherapist. Trained in neurofunctional infant development, psychotraumatology and infant attachment, in EMDR, sensory-motor and neurofeedback therapy. Accredited by EMDR Europe as EMDR Trainer for children and adolescents and facilitator and consultant. Accredited by the BCI as neurofeedback therapist and trainer. Collaborates with adoption and foster care institutions and different departments for equality and family of different autonomous regions of Spain. Co-director of the Vitaliza Health Psychology Center, in Pamplona, a private health center specializing in severe trauma, addiction and child psychology. Author of “Mirame, siénteme” (Ed. Desclée de Brouwer).

She participates in Parental Separation, Custody and Attachment in early Childhood and the seminar Psychopathology of Childbirth.

Cristina Cortés

Psychologist and Psychotherapist, specialized in Attachment Disorders

Flavia E. Roso – Argentina

She holds a degree in psychology. Gestalt therapist, Perinatal psychologist and Doula specialized in puerperium and parenting. Her professional career is focused on the clinical area since 2007, in the accompaniment of pregnancy, delivery and puerperium. Activist for the women´s and men´s rights related to childbirth. Founding member of “Mujeres por un Parto Respetado Córdoba” (Women for respectful childbirth in Córdoba). She organized several campaigns of visibility and denaturalization of obstetric violence. She is actively working on the regulation of the National Law of Respected Childbirth N25929 in Argentina. Dictated the first university course “Women, childbirth and power” at the National University of Cordoba, Argentina.

Teacher of the postgraduate course “Respected Childbirth: knowledge, best practice and implications in Health.” (UNC) and Perinatal Psychology professional training course supported by the IEP.

Flavia E. Roso – Argentina

Psychologist and Doula

Virginia Luz Galván – Argentina

Psychologist. Gestalt Therapist and Doula. With experience as a clinician, and specializing in Perinatal Mental Health, her career focuses since 2006 on the private sector, but also in public health and public universities. She participated in the elaboration of institutional protocols to eradicate gender violence (FBA-UNLP) and in the creation of the Perinatal Psychology Subcommittee of the Psychologists Association of Bs. As. District XI. She is an activist for family rights at birth and co-founder of Ummi Perinatal Psychology and Respectful Parenting.

She currently teaches the Perinatal Psychology Training supported by the IEP and is a Postgraduate Teacher at the UNC in the course “Respected Childbirth: knowledge, best practice and implications in Health”.

Virginia Luz Galván – Argentina

Psychologist and Doula

Miguel Ángel Marín Gabriel

Medical Doctor, specialist in Neonatology. Doctor of Medicine from the Complutense University, Madrid. Associate Professor of the Department of Pediatrics of the Autonomous University of Madrid. Medical Director of the Neonatal Unit (NICU) Puerta de Hierro University Hospital in Majadahonda (Madrid). President of the Perinatal Morbidity and Mortality Commission and responsible for the Satellite Center of the Human Milk Bank of the same hospital. Neonatal CPR resuscitation instructor. Professor at the Master of Assessment of body damage, Medical Expertise and Extrajudicial Resolution. Clinical Researcher with more than 20 indexed publications.

He participates in Breastfeeding and Mental Health Training

Miguel Ángel Marín Gabriel

Neonatologist