Postpartum Progress

Need Volunteers for Online PPD Survey

First, there is a new survey being conducted by Western Carolina University on postpartum depression.  It is an online, anonymous survey and shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes to complete.  Anyone who has experienced a postpartum mood disorder is welcome to participate.  I just finished taking the survey and hope you'll be able to do so as well.  Just click here. 

Second, on the support group front, I have now received information on some support groups in California, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.  If you are from one of the 39 states not yet represented on that list and know of a PPD support group in your area, please email me at stonecallis@msn.com.  It's disappointing to think that so few states have support groups for women with postpartum mood disorders.

Tag: postpartum depression

Congratulations Sonia!!

This summer, Sonia Murdock, co-founder and executive director of the Postpartum Resource Center of New York, Inc. was selected as one of the Top 100 Heros in the Volvo for Life Awards out of over 4,000 candidates nationwide. Sonia received this honor for her advocacy work in postpartum depression outreach.

Sonia began her involvement in tackling postpartum psychosis when her sister suffered its debilitating effects after the birth of her daughter. In helping her sister through the illness, Sonia learned just how few resources actually existed to help women suffering from postpartum mood disorders. She also learned that many health care professionals and Para-professionals either didn’t recognize the symptoms, or had no place to refer patients for follow-up. In response, Sonia co-founded the Postpartum Resource Center of New York, Inc. Postpartum Support International has recognized the organization as a model program. There are now Postpartum Resource Centers in Texas and Kansas.

Due to Sonia’s efforts, thousands of women have since found support and referrals via the Postpartum Resource Center of New York. Moreover, Sonia has worked to educate the public, health care professionals, and legislators on the subject, especially in the wake of the Andrea Yates tragedy in Houston, Texas. Sonia has made many media appearances and provides training nationally and internationally regarding perinatal depression. She has presented to the United Nation’s NGO Health Committee. She is advocating for the passage of HR 1940 the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act.

It's great to see some of the people who work so hard for this issue get recognized!

Compiling List of Support Groups

I've begun getting more and more emails from women throughout the country who want to know where they can find PPD support groups in their area.  I'd like your help in compiling a list.  I think it is helpful, wherever possible, to be able to get together face to face with other women who are experiencing or have survived this illness. 

I know there are new groups being developed all the time.  There are also groups that may have once existed that no longer do.  Ladies, I'd like your help in compiling a list of current groups, their cities/towns and a contact number.  I don't need details on dates and times of meetings, locations of meetings and other specifics.  Just the topline group information.  I also don't want to rely on just one organization to provide the list -- I want to cover the wide variety of support groups, including those started by individual women, by health centers and hospitals, by universities, by private foundations and by national organizations like PSI.  I want to know of any group that has reliably existed where women can go to find friendly faces.  Please email me at stonecallis@msn.com if you know of one.  I will then post the entire list permanently on Postpartum Progress.  Thanks, as always, for your help.

Documentary on Mental Illness to Appear on ABC in September

On December 4, ABC will air a documentary called "Shadow Voices: Finding Hope in Mental Illness".  This is a documentary challenging society to rethink the stigma that continues to surround people with mental illness.  The program enters into the daily lives of persons living with such illnesses, and experts in the field of mental health, clergy and others explore how the community can do a better job of helping to create a truly healing and hopeful environment.  (Thank you Helena for sending me this.)

Considering how important it is for all of us to eliminate the stigma of PPD, I think this will be a very interesting program to watch.  I'm not aware that it will cover PPD specifically, but it doesn't really matter.  All people coping with mental illnesses deserve better treatment from society.  I'm pleased that ABC is willing to cover this issue, because it needs a lot of attention.

Fathers Can Suffer PPD Too

Helena Bradford sent me an article from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle in New York that I guess also appeared in the Seattle Times on October 2nd.  It reveals the results of a study that was published in the British medical journal The Lancet that were quite surprising to me - dads can get PPD too: 

"Fathers can develop depression after the birth of a baby and its arrival home.

What's more, says the University of Oxford report, postpartum depression (PPD) in fathers doubles the risk that the child later will have behavioral problems, especially if the child is a boy.

'Postnatal depression is a public-health concern for mothers, fathers and babies,' says Dr. Thomas O'Connor, the University of Rochester psychiatry professor who helped research the study ...

Tested at eight weeks after birth, again about two years later and a final time when the children were 3 to 5 years old, up to 7 percent of fathers reported low moods, feelings of sadness, irritability and hopelessness.

More alarming were the long-term effects:

By preschool age, 'We saw emotional problems, disruptive problems, fearful behaviors, over-reactive behaviors," says O'Connor. 'We know this happens for boys and girls when the mom has PPD. But if we're talking about a dad's PPD, the effects were stronger on boys.' And, it remained noticeable even after the mother's and father's depressions had been controlled ...

Precisely why and how new fathers wind up with postpartum depression isn't clear.

Increased expectations, decreased sleep, confusion over his role, increased responsibilities if the mother is ill or depressed, and weeks and months of general upheaval can be contributing factors, O'Connor notes, especially in men who are predisposed toward depression."

I'm not sure why I'm so surprised -- I guess I figured since new fathers don't have the same kind of major hormonal fluctuations in their bodies that new moms do, they wouldn't experience the same kind of postpartum depression.  Apparently I was wrong:

"The Oxford study's results don't surprise Dr. Shaila Kulkarni Misri. The Canadian reproductive psychiatrist's research on another relatively unexplored topic — depression during pregnancy — was published in Pregnancy Blues (Delacorte, $23) last month.

'I think this was a brilliant study, because these men could not have suffered the same hormonal and chemical imbalances that new mothers face, yet they felt the same symptoms and sadness and depression,' says Misri.

'This is opening society's eyes to the possibility that men are also very vulnerable at this time. And, we hope, it gives men the signal to watch for this, and to report to their doctors or others what they're feeling.'"

It seems we need to watch out for our partners as well as ourselves.

New Article on PPD at Office of Women's Health Site

The National Women's Health Information Center's (NWHIC) featured health article for October is on postpartum depression.  I think it's a good article, but I'm a little biased since I wrote it!  ;>)  Please check it out and share it with others.  The site, womenshealth.gov, is part of the Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Women's Health.  It offers free health information on hundreds of topics specific to the health of women and girls.  Thanks go to Katherine Cruise at National Depression Screening Day for getting the Office of Women's Health to put up this article.

The link is here:  http://www.womenshealth.gov/editor/oct05/index.htm

Tags: postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, baby blues, postpartum OCD, post partum depression

Thank You

I just wanted to sincerely thank all of the women that responded last week to my announcement about baby number two.  The one thing that stands out to me so clearly about women who have gone through postpartum mood disorders is their complete dedication to supporting other women and their conviction that we must help each other and find ways to lessen the terrible impact of this illness.  I am grateful to all of you, and I love the community we have created, despite the adversity that brought us together.

Annie's Mailbox Covers PPD

I thought you might want to see this letter that appeared in Annie's Mailbox last week, a syndicated advice column appearing in newspapers across the country:

Dear Annie: I'm writing to urge women to take advantage of National Depression Screening Day on Oct. 6, when free mental health screenings will be available across the nation. I believe it is one step that can save women from struggling endlessly with a serious illness that only in recent years has begun to receive much-needed attention -- postpartum mood disorders.

I suffered from a postpartum disorder that left me sad, irritable, obsessive and unable to sleep or eat. I had fleeting thoughts about hurting my newborn son. I loved him dearly, but I'd find myself thinking about smothering him or dropping him down the stairs. I had no idea where these thoughts came from. I was confused, and sank deeper and deeper into misery and fear. I thought if I told anyone, they would lock me away forever. But they didn't. They told me my illness had a name and that it would go away. This was a tremendous relief.

People often look at postpartum depression and think it is a woman's problem. But it is a family's problem. It affects husbands, partners and, most of all, our babies.

These free screenings provide women a chance to see what, if anything, is wrong. Anyone participating will meet with an informed professional and can get help immediately. Sincerely -- Katherine Stone, Georgia

Dear Katherine Stone: Thank you for your frank and helpful letter. National Depression Screening Day is Thursday, Oct. 6. Although this year's focus is on postpartum disorders, the program also screens for other mental-health disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

All screenings are free and confidential. You will fill out a questionnaire, have the opportunity to hear an educational presentation, receive pamphlets and brochures, and follow up privately with a mental health professional, if necessary.

To find a screening site, our readers can call 1-800-437-1200, or visit www.MentalHealthScreening.org. The lines are open now.

Tag: postpartum depression, post partum depression, baby blues, postpartum OCD, intrusive thoughts, postpartum psychosis