Transforming perinatal mental health: an annual update from Dr. Shahirose Sadrudin Premji, Sally Smith Chair in Nursing

| 18 Feb 2026

Up to one in three women experience emotional distress during pregnancy or in the first year after giving birth. When left unrecognized, depression and anxiety can affect not only mothers, but also babies and families – shaping health and wellbeing for years to come.

Thanks to the generosity of the Smith family in establishing the Sally Smith Chair in Nursing, Dr. Premji is making a meaningful impact in advancing our understanding of mental health care for parents during pregnancy and early parenthood, ensuring that everyone receives the support they need.

“When perinatal mental health struggles go unrecognized, they can cast a long shadow over families,” explains Dr. Premji. “Our work is devoted to understanding risks, improving treatment, and designing care solutions that reach every community.”

At its heart, Dr. Premji program of research focuses on three goals:

Understanding the social, cultural, and environmental stresses that shape mental health during pregnancy—and finding ways to turn them into opportunities for support.
Exploring how emotional and physical health interact in the perinatal period.
Creating more accessible and responsive mental health care for families.

This past year has been one of remarkable growth. The Chair has advanced new research, strengthened partnerships locally and internationally, and helped transform how we support parents and families facing mental health challenges during pregnancy and early parenthood. Below is an overview of her transformative work:

Collaborations driving transformative change

Supported by a stipend from the Sally Smith Chair, Dr. Premji organized a symposium on perinatal mental health that brought together clinicians, researchers, and public health leaders. The event sparked collaborations that now extend beyond our region. One outcome is a newly funded project examining how stress caused by climate change affects pregnant people. This work expands Dr. Premji’s research to better understand how individuals and communities cope with and adapt to environmental challenges, and ensuring pregnant people are part of the conversation.

New innovations for mothers and babies

This year also marked the launch of a bold new initiative: designing a wearable breastfeeding technology to better support families facing premature birth, feeding challenges, and postpartum depression. The new device, which will be developed with sustainability and affordability in mind, will train moderate to late preterm infants to breastfeed while the mother simulatenously pumps, helping strengthen the bond between parents and infants while supporting feeding and mental wellbeing.

Bringing evidence into care

This year has also been about making sure the right information reached the right people. A key priority for Dr. Premji has been ensuring that front-lines care providers are well-informed about the new national clinical guidelines for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, developed by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. From community midwives and family physicians in Kingston, to Indigenous primary care teams and colleagues in Indonesia, the presentations not only spread best practices, but also opened dialogue about how care can be adapted across cultures and communities.

Securing impactful funding

The Chair has secured nearly 8.5 million in major national and international funding. These funds are used to improve important areas such as mental health screening driven by artificial intelligence, the effects of climate change on pregnancy, new technology in infant feeding, and global maternal health. These achievements would not have been possible without the protected time afforded by the Chair position, which enabled meaningful collaboration, relationship-building, and the development of strong interdisciplinary partnerships.

Looking ahead: Building smarter systems of care

Dr. Premji has exciting visionary projects for the future. One of her ambitious goals is to bring together family physicians, midwives, nurses, obstetricians, digital health experts, and health-system leaders, to build a new learning health system that connects clinical data with research and quality improvement. This learning health system will create a vibrant ecosystem where evidence guides care decisions in real time, where clinicians’ insights help shape important research questions, and where families benefit from faster, more personalized, and effective care.

A catalyst for change

The progress of this past year demonstrates the tangible impact of investing in the Sally Smith Chair in Nursing. From new research funding and international partnerships to innovative technologies and real-world changes in care, the Chair has become a catalyst for advancing perinatal mental health. It enables bold questions, meaningful collaborations, and concrete steps toward a future where every family—no matter where they live—has access to the mental health support they need during one of life’s most critical moments.

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Transforming perinatal mental health: an annual update from Dr. Shahirose Sadrudin Premji, Sally Smith Chair in Nursing

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