Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists”: Strong Minds for Stronger Adolescent and Young Mothers
Janna Patterson, senior program officer with the Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Karlee Silver, vice president of Targeted Challenges for Grand Challenges Canada; and Nicole Sirivansanti, associate program officer with the MNCH team at the Gates Foundation, discuss how depression and other mental health conditions can affect adolescent and young mothers. The authors write, “The need to focus on adolescent and young mothers has become crystal clear given the high rates of mental disorders that begin during adolescence. … The opportunity to put a dent in maternal morbidity by facilitating stronger minds for adolescent and young mothers is substantial” (10/17).