The perinatal period includes pregnancy and up to one year post-partum (or post-pregnancy loss).

Zero to Three defines Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health as "developing the capacity of the infant and young child to form close and secure relationships; to experience, manage, and express a full range of emotions; and explore the environment and learn—all in the context of family, community, and culture."

Some examples where a child may be struggling with their mental health may include:

• Intense emotions leading to frequent and intense outbursts of aggression that put themselves or others in danger.
• Intense emotions leading to frequent tantrums that are intense, long lasting and adults have difficulty managing.
• Separation is difficult and they are unable to explore their world or form meaningful relationships as a result.
• Seems easily distracted, is often restless and seems unable to settle their body or mind.
• Significant caregiving stress where the caregiver is struggling to understand the child and is unsure how to support their development, exploration of the world, or help them manage their emotions.

We are trying to make it as easy as possible for you to reach us! You can reach us by phone, EPIC chat, virtual booking page (early childhood only) or through the Contact Us feature of the website. 

Yes, in order for us to ask you specific questions about the patient, and to allow for documentation, billing, and possible community referrals, we need to know that your patient has given consent for you to share their information. We will ask you to verbally confirm this.

We will ask you if your patient has provided consent.

We will ask you some basic questions about your patient, including their pregnancy/post partum status, the results of any screening scores, and the main reason you are calling Ask Masi.

If you are a physician or nurse practitioner who will be speaking to the perinatal psychiatrist, we will need your billing number and some additional details about the patient for the purposes of documentation.

Yes! We will ask for your billing number, and both you and the perinatal psychiatrist can bill this as a phone consult. The billing code for you is: K730

We recommend screening your patient at:

• their first pre-natal visit
• 26-28 weeks of pregnancy
• 6 weeks postpartum

If your patient is high-risk, we recommend additional screening at 2 weeks postpartum.

Screening is generally recommended:

• During routine well-baby and well-child visits through developmental surveillance,
• Whenever parents express concerns about behaviour, emotions, regulation, attachment, sleep, feeding, or social-emotional development,
• When there are risk factors such as caregiver mental illness, family stress, adverse childhood experiences, developmental concerns, or disrupted parent-child relationships.

No, there is no cost for contacting Ask Masi or for the resources we provide.

No, Ask Masi is strictly a provider-facing service.

Our aim is for your call to be answered by a real person, right away. If we happen to be on the phone with someone else, we will return your call immediately.

If it's appropriate for you to speak with a perinatal psychiatrist, our goal is for you to be connected to them within minutes.

In order to facilitate this, please make sure to leave us with the best phone number to reach you at (often a cell phone and not a clinic phone number).

If you schedule using our booking page, you will self-schedule with a clinician. Timeslots are first come, first serve. For phone or virtual consults, please make sure to leave us with the best way to reach you directly (often a cellphone and not a clinic phone number). If you call our phone line, your call will be returned within 24 hours from Monday to Friday.

Champlain eConsult BASE is a distinct service from Ask Masi, but the standard maximum response time is 7 days. More information about requesting a perinatal or child psychiatry e-consultation on this platform can be found here.

No, a key component of the Ask Masi service is that the calling healthcare provider maintains care of their patient and is responsible for any prescribing.

Ask Masi is intended to support you in caring for your patients with mild to moderate illness and for more complex patients while they are waiting to see a specialist.

For perinatal patients, here is a great one-pager with tips for talking to your patient about their mental health.

For early childhood patients, the following Canadian Paediatric Society's Position Statements may be helpful for your practice. 

• From ACEs to early relational health: Implications for clinical practice 
• Relationships matter: How clinicians can support positive parenting in the early years