More than one in seven women and one in ten men experience changes in their mental health during and after pregnancy yet many do not know where to turn to find the support and services to help navigate pregnancy and the postpartum period. As a pioneer in integrated primary and behavioral health care in northern New Jersey, R&J’s client, CarePlus New Jersey, is confronting this issue head-on. CarePlus recently established one of the state’s first Maternal and Family Centers to provide comprehensive care to women and families who are trying to conceive, currently pregnant or postpartum, or who have suffered grief or loss,

CarePlus planned to mark the occasion with a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony together with New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy and Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco. To help generate awareness around the grand opening of the center and the invaluable resources it provides to new and expectant mothers and their families, R&J’s healthcare team employed a robust media outreach strategy leading up to and following the ribbon-cutting event. Working in tandem with CarePlus and the Office of the First Lady, R&J conducted outreach to a targeted list of local broadcasts, print and online reporters as well as business and healthcare trade publications and mom and parenting reporters and bloggers, offering interviews ahead of the event and inviting them to attend the ceremony in person or via virtual livestream.

Thanks to extensive media outreach and follow-up, R&J not only secured a pre-event interview for NJ First Lady Tammy Murphy with PIX11, the healthcare team also secured a robust on-site and online media presence with News12 New Jersey, NJ Spotlight News, WMBC-TV and The Record attending the event in person and New Jersey 101.5 tuning into the live video feed to cover the event. To ensure optimal coverage, R&J attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony to facilitate interviews with CarePlus’ perinatal mental health experts and news reporters and to provide any additional information or resources on their behalf. Additionally, R&J distributed a post-event press release with photos of the ceremony to secure additional post-event media coverage for outlets who were unable to attend or tune-in to the virtual event.

The widespread media coverage R&J secured for the grand opening of CarePlus’ Maternal and Family Center has since helped drive enhanced awareness and increased referrals and requests for services.

Visit the links below to view coverage of the event:

New Jersey 101.5

Northjersey.com / The Record

 NJ Spotlight News