We are pleased to invite you to the 3rd International Conference on Maternal Mental Health in Africa (ICAMMHA) to be held between 3rd-5th December 2024, at the beautiful Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. This event will be hybrid.

ICAMMHA, as a new flagship mental health conference, focuses on innovation in Maternal Mental Health in Africa with emphasis on research and practice. The conference features world-class plenary speeches, distinguished Symposium talks, exhibits, oral and poster sessions, debates, and panels. ICAMMHA is comprised of research papers, special guest speakers, international position papers and best practice abstracts on responses to the call-for-proposals.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS IS NOW CLOSED

High quality abstracts were invited from professional academic, clinical, strategic, and lived experience perspectives on any topics relating to maternal mental health, including the following:

​Category 1. Perinatal Mental Health: implementing the WHO “Guide for integration of perinatal mental health in maternal and child health services.”

• Underlying assumptions and research: mothers, fathers, children, services, policies, societies, economics
• Current state of services in Africa: maternity, public health, child health, mental health; professional’s attitudes and training; public awareness, stigma, discrimination
• Models: evaluations, implementation experiences, cultural and economic barriers, and facilitators
• How to induce large scale change

 Category 2. Maternal, infant, and young child mental health and nutrition

•  Multigenerational and intergenerational relationships between mental health and all aspects of development, health, and functioning
• Mediating and modulating factors and processes
• Individual, family, and society implications

Category 3.  Interventions

•  Individual, group, social or political interventions in the African context

Category 4. The mediating and modulating role of trauma

• How common are early adverse experiences and adult traumas in African populations?
• Sources and types of traumas including Domestic Abuse
• What do longitudinal prospective studies tell us about what is traumatic to fetuses and babies?
• Intergenerational early years adversity, maternal mental health, and child outcomes
• Parental traumas and their outcomes: vulnerabilities, mediation, and modulation
• The role of nurturing care and relationships
• Epigenetics
• Psychoneuroimmunology

 Category 5. Maternal Mental Health: everybody’s business?

• Perinatal and intergenerational mental health
• How important is this: to individuals, to families, across generations, to society, to nations, to the continent, to the planet?
• Climate change and its effect on maternal mental health
• HIV and other diseases and its effect on maternal mental health
• Is it the fault of the mother or society? Cultural, ethical, and political perspectives
• Whose responsibility is it to take action, and how?

Category 6. Voice your views

This conference is calling for papers for debate, to give conference delegates an opportunity to air their views on a broad range of topics, including the following:

• Infant, child, and adolescents’ mental health
• Paternal mental health
• Maternal mental health and human rights
• Mental health and the family
• Stigma and discrimination
• The role of cultural institutions, e.g. religion and traditional healing
• Maternal mental health and economic, environmental, political, spiritual, and social context

 Key Information: 

Delegates are encouraged to submit more than one abstract if they wish to, however, please submit one abstract per email.

Review Process:

All abstracts will be reviewed and selected based on a definite set of criteria, including:

• Fit to the category above.
• Fit to the conference theme.
• Appropriateness of the content to the format of the conference (oral presentation or poster)
• Quality of the research/material presented.
• Potential contribution to policy and practice.

Submission of Abstracts:

Prospective authors are invited to submit abstracts (Up to 300 words) using 1.5 spacing, font 12 New Times Roman.

Submissions should state whether for workshop, symposium, oral or poster and whether for in person or virtual presentation.

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Key dates:

• Call for abstracts opens: 1st June 2024.
• Call for abstracts closes: 30th September 2024 
• Notification of outcomes: from 1st November 2024
• Oral and poster presentations: 2-5 December 2024

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Please submit your abstracts to:

icammha@gmail.com