Blue Dot Spots (BDS) program is a pilot initiative designed to expand awareness, education, and access to support for perinatal mental health. The program focuses on equipping medical practitioners and their staff with the knowledge and tools needed to recognize perinatal mental health concerns and connect patients to appropriate resources. BDS creates trusted “Mental Health Spots” for parents during pregnancy, postpartum, and following pregnancy loss.

Who Participates
Participating sites include medical offices, community health centers, and clinics, school-based health offices (such as high school and college nurse’s offices). These locations often serve as consistent points of contact for perinatal patients and are uniquely positioned to identify concerns early and provide supportive pathways to care.

Training & Designation
Participating sites complete specialized perinatal mental health training to ensure staff use appropriate language, demonstrate compassionate responses, and understand referral pathways. The goal is for anyone who interacts with a perinatal patient—clinical or non-clinical staff—to have baseline awareness and confidence to offer support. After completing training, sites are designated as Blue Dot “Mental Health” Spots and visibly display the Blue Dot in offices, on websites, and in patient-facing materials.

Impact & Purpose
The BDS program helps normalize conversations around perinatal mental health, strengthens practitioner confidence in follow-up care, and connects patients to resources through PSI services. By increasing awareness and visibility, BDS reduces stigma and helps ensure parents know they are not alone and that help is available.

Why It Matters
Perinatal mental health disorders affect approximately 800,000 individuals each year and can occur during pregnancy or within one year after the end of pregnancy. According to the CDC, mental health conditions are the leading underlying cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. Despite this, awareness and education remain limited—both among the general public and within healthcare settings. BDS addresses this gap by leveraging existing points of care to create accessible, trusted pathways to support.

Join our Blue Dot Spot interest list to stay up to date on the program’s development.