Postpartum Progress

Reach Out To A Fellow Mom

Here's a link to the blog of a mom who had postpartum depression and is currently pregnant.  Reach out and give her your support!  We're all sisters and we need to help each other.

Those Damn Wire Baskets

This is a great post written by a mother of triplets talking about how difficult it can be to be a mom sometimes.  I especially love the part about trying to get the wire baskets apart at the grocery store. 

Chicago Tribune Columnist Asks Why Mother Remains in Prison

The following commentary on Debra Gindorf appeared on December 23 in Eric Zorn's blog on the Chicago Tribune online edition:

"Gutlessness leaves governor open to scorn

When people ask me why I have such a cranky attitude about Gov. Rod Blagojevich, I'm happy to tell them the story of Debra Gindorf.

Gindorf had a hearing in front of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board in early 2003. The board was clearly sympathetic to her lawyers' contention that she was in the grips of post-partum psychosis in 1985 when she killed her 3-month-old baby and 23-month-old toddler before trying to kill herself and that she was sentenced to life in prison before this condition was properly understood.

Not even the Lake County state's attorney's office, which prosecuted Gindorf, objected to her release.That was more than 1,700 days ago. Gindorf, 43, is still at Dwight Correctional Center with a bum heart and a broken spirit, according to her assistant state appellate defender Kathleen Hamill.

Not only has Blagojevich not had the guts to release this poor woman and explain to skeptics why it's the right and compassionate thing to do, he hasn't even had the guts NOT to release her -- to deny her petition for commutation.

Instead, it sits somewhere in the stack of 1,445 other pending parole and pardon requests on the desk of our state's invertebrate hockey-fan-in-chief.

Remember that next time you hear him preen about women's health issues, about his courage and about how other lawmakers need to buckle down and get to work."

Thank you, Eric Zorn.

Happy New Year!

I feel like I haven't posted in weeks, even though I know it's only been a few days.  It's very hard to do this blog when you have two little ones (20 months and 6 years) tugging on your legs and saying "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" all day.  Anyway, I'm trying to catch up on all of the many emails and news tidbits I got over the holidays and let you know what's going on.  I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to the new year!  Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas!  I wish everyone many blessings in 2008 and lots of good mental health!!  And oh, by the way, I'm also wishing for passage of the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act in 2008!

Menendez & Rush Say MOTHERS Act Legislation Nearly Complete

This week, the offices of Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Congressman Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) announced they are finalizing the new federal postpartum depression legislation for its anticipated victory in the U.S. Congress.  The legislation, which was called the MOTHERS Act, has been slightly renamed as the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act.  This is in order to honor the mother whose name served as the title of the House bill that passed this fall.  Melanie was a beautiful and successful new mother who committed suicide in 2001 while suffering from postpartum depression. 

Many bloggers took part in a big legislative push this October by participating in Blog Day for the MOTHERS Act, hosted by BlogHer, Postpartum Support International and my blog Postpartum Progress.  I believe the action many of you took through your blogs and your phone calls to speak out about the need for more education and better treatment had a huge influence on legislators moving forward so quickly.  I hope we will continue to make our voices heard as we get closer to bill passage.  It is expected that the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act may be passed in early spring or possibly sooner once America's legislative bodies reconvene.  It appears that Democratic support is substantial, but some Republicans still need convincing.  Postpartum Support International president Susan Stone has been informed that she and others will be contacted when the timing is right for renewed advocacy supportive of the bill's passage.

As many of you know, the 2007-2008 BlogHers Act has been focused on harnessing the power of women online and their blogs to address maternal health.  This issue includes postpartum depression and related mood disorders, which can have a devastating effect on new mothers and their families.   

 

Informative First Thursday Teleconferences Offered By MedEdPPD

I think I've written about this before -- at least I hope I have -- but Dr. Ruta Nonacs was kind enough to remind me of the First Thursday teleconferences held by MedEdPPD.  Here's a link to her post on A Deeper Shade of Blue about these informative sessions.  The next one is Thursday, February 7, and will feature Dr. Margaret Spinelli of Columbia University discussing postpartum psychosis and infanticide.

The Mom's Disease

This is a link to a great post called "The Mom's Disease" that I just saw on Therese Borchard's blog Beyond Blue -- it's actually from the blog Maternally Challenged.  Very well written and right on the money when it comes to talking about PPD.

The Future Is Bright

I had the opportunity this weekend to retell the story of my experience with postpartum depression/OCD.  Even though it has been six years, it astounded me how the feelings rise up and bubble over -- it surprised me that I cried.  I guess it just goes to show what an intense and indelible experience PPD is for everyone who goes through it.  It also served to remind me how different I am today than I was during those dark hours. 

I am so unbelievably happy to be a mom.  It is truly the best job I've ever had or will have.  My children are my oxygen.  Is it easy every day?  Of course not.  When my 20-month old decides to remove her diaper and spread its contents around her crib, I pray for mercy.  When they throw tantrums in public, I want to tell onlookers that they don't belong to me.  But then my funny little six-year-old tells me "Mom, just five more gallons and I'll be as tall as you", and I feel like the luckiest, happiest person in the world.

For those of you reading this who are going through postpartum depression right now I hope you can find some hope in that.  I went from being someone who thought I never should have been a mother, to being someone who delights in motherhood.  You will too. 

Canadian Researchers Argue For More Gender-Specific Research on Depression & Estrogen

In a study appearing in the October 2007 issue of the journal Biological Research for Nursing, women's health experts from the University of Alberta argue there is an urgent need for carefully designed, gender-specific research to better understand the relationship of female sex hormones to mood states and disorders.

“The reasons for the gender disparity in rates of depression are not completely understood,” says Kathy Hegadoren, the Canada Research Chair in Stress Disorders in Women at the University of Alberta.

“But there is growing evidence that estrogens have powerful effects beyond their role in reproduction—that they play a critical role in mood disorders in women—and this opens new avenues for research into the underlying biological mechanisms and treatment of depression.”

Estrogen can be used to treat various mood disturbances in women—such as perimenopausal, postmenopausal and postpartum depression—but the results of these treatments can be difficult to interpret because researchers are only beginning to recognize the complex interactions among estrogens, serotonin and mood.

“Right now, clinical use of sex-hormone therapies for the treatment of mood disorders is severely hampered by the inability to predict which women would respond well to such therapies,” explains study co-author and U of A nursing professor Gerri Lasiuk.

“Most animal studies looking at the causes of depression have been conducted with male animals and use chronic-stress models, which are assumed to be similar to depression.”

Hegadoren and Lasiuk’s study recognizes that multiple factors may be at play in the development of mood disturbances, with individual, psychosocial and environmental factors interacting in complicated ways to create differential vulnerability in women and men. But they also point out that the link to sex hormones is hard to deny.

“Previous research has found that, before puberty, the rates of mood and anxiety disorders are similar in boys and girls. It’s only after females begin menstrual function that a gender differential in mood disorders manifests itself. This, coupled with the observation that women appear to be especially vulnerable to mood disturbances during times of hormonal flux, certainly lends support to the claim that a relationship exists between sex hormones and mood,” says Hegadoren.

One Mother Sentenced to Prison, Another Found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity

This week, according to the Springfield [Ohio] News-Sun, " ... a west-central Ohio mother who attempted to drown her infant daughter in a bathtub has been sentenced to seven years in prison.  Twenty-one-year-old Heather Nicole Dean, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to attempted murder this week in Clark County Common Pleas Court.  Prosecutors say Dean was suffering from postpartum depression when she attempted to kill her baby last spring by holding her under running water in the bathtub.  Court records show Dean called 911 after the drowning attempt and then performed CPR on the baby.  The child made a full recovery."

Meanwhile, in a nearby state, another mother this week was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the murder of her two children.  According to the Lancaster [Pennsylvania] New Era, "A Mount Joy woman who killed her two young sons in 2004 has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.  Meghan Lippiatt, 32, smiled when Judge James P. Cullen announced his verdict ... The verdict means Lippiatt avoids prison and the potential for the death penalty and will instead be treated at a psychiatric facility to be determined later ... Lippiatt killed her two children, 4-month-old Myles and 2-year-old Silas, on April 18, 2004 ... Her defense team argued successfully that she was suffering from schizoaffective disorder and didn't know the difference between right and wrong when she killed the children."  The paper stated in a previous article that " ... while living in England in early 2004, Lippiatt was diagnosed with psychosis and postnatal depression after telling doctors she was hearing voices telling her to harm her children."

Clinical Trial of Light Treatment for Antepartum Depression

This is a link to new and ongoing clinical trial which provides light treatments for depression during pregnancy at Yale University, Columbia University, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Star-Ledger Story Says New Jersey's "Speak Up" Program Has Problems

The Newark Star-Ledger has just done a report on the status of New Jersey's "Speak Up When You're Down" program that I think everyone should read.  Click here for the full story, written by Susan K. Livio. 

Here is the headline:

"Since Gov. Jon Corzine signed the landmark postpartum depression law 20 months ago, [New Jersey] has spent $9 million on the program: half on TV and radio ads and brochures encouraging women to ask for help, and half on training more than 6,000 medical professionals in how to identify the illness.

But health experts and women using the hotline say the law has fallen short: Women are seeking help, but when they do, state and medical professionals often are not prepared to assist them.

Many women found a state hotline staffed by people who were inexperienced at helping those in a mental health crisis. Obstetricians, gynecologists and other doctors often are afraid to get involved, they say, because of their lack of psychiatric knowledge. And there is a shortage of mental health professionals skilled in treating the illness."

"The people who did speak up were greatly disappointed," said Joyce Venis, a Princeton psychiatric nurse who treats women with perinatal mood disorders and served on the state advisory group that assembled the public awareness campaign. "How could this happen? I believed this was going to be a good program..."

The story goes on to share stories of women who definitely did not receive the type of treatment we would want them to receive when suffering from a postpartum mood disorder.  How could this happen? 

It happened because what New Jersey is trying to do, and what all other states should do, is hard.  VERY HARD.  We can make laws and create nice advertisements and set up toll-free hotlines and have the best intentions, but what needs to change is a lot of processes and attitudes that have been around for a very long time.  As I wrote in a post a little over a week ago, if we don't make it clear exactly who is responsible for caring for the mental health of postpartum women, and if we don't have buy-in from those people, and if we don't have well-trained mental health professionals available everywhere, then we don't have what we need.

These projects are the kinds of projects that take years to implement fully and properly.  Sure, it would seem from the article that there are certain things New Jersey could have done better from the outset, like staffing the hotline with better trained workers.  But at the same time the state can't help the fact that there aren't enough psychiatric professionals who really know how to treat women with PPD and related disorders.  (In the article, one woman was told by her doctor that PPD is a made-up illness for goodness sakes!) Additionally, as some of you have experienced, there are doctors who will say they know how to treat women with PPD and then it turns out they really have no experience in this area and we have to start over and find someone else, having wasted weeks or months continuing to suffer.  It's not New Jersey's fault if doctors like that self-select to be on the referral list -- the state has no way of really knowing who is good at this and who isn't. 

I just want to thank New Jersey for trying.  I hope they take a look at where they've gone wrong and try to do better.  More importantly, I hope that the various constituencies who are key to the success of the process -- OB/GYNs, hospitals, child welfare workers, psychiatric professionals, med schools and law enforcement -- do the same.  I just really believe that New Jersey will get there.  It may be painful for those of us who don't get the best care when it's our turn, but down the road hundreds of thousands of women will benefit.  I look forward to that day.

NJ Event Raises $40,000 for PSI

Sylvia Lasalandra just announced the results of the 2nd annual New Jersey fundraiser for Postpartum Support International -- the event grossed more than $40,000.  Congratulations to Sylvia and Susan Stone and all of the others who hosted this event.  (I wish I could have been there!)  With the monies raised at last year's event, PSI was able to launch its toll-free informational sessions.  This year's money will allow PSI to continue hosting those calls, which are open and available to all who need them.

Center for Women's Mental Health: Cognitive Therapy Vs. Medication In the Treatment of Depression

Here's a link to a very helpful post at the Center for Women's Mental Health Blog about cognitive therapy vs. medication in the treatment of depression.  This is a great argument for the use of therapy, which I believe in strongly, and should be a relief to those of you who would rather not take medication.  A trained therapist can really help you to work through all of the bad feelings you experience when going through a postpartum mood disorder.  It makes a big impact when you have someone help you understand where your thinking has gone awry and help you get back on the right path.