Postpartum Progress

Postpartum Progress Now On Alltop

I can't remember if I wrote about this or not.  If I already did, forgive me, but I'm very excited about it.  Postpartum Progress is now on Alltop.com.  What is Alltop you ask? 

Alltop helps surfers explore their passions by collecting stories from “all the top” sites on the web. They’ve grouped these collections — ”aggregations” — into individual Alltop sites based on topics such as environment, photography, science, celebrity gossip, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, and Macintosh.  You can think of an Alltop site as a “dashboard,” “table of contents,” or even a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet.

Postpartum Progress is now featured at Alltop Health, alongside Mayoclinic.com, CNN Health, New York Times Health, Psych Central and USA Today's Better Life.  Super cool!  Thanks Alltop!  We'll try to remain worthy.

Online Petition Keeps Spreading for MOTHERS Act

We're up to 13,000 signers now for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance's online petition supporting the Melanie Blocker Stokes Mothers Act for postpartum depression.  Here are some more bloggers who have supported the cause, and believe in more funding for research into the causes and treatments of PPD ...

• Not That I Don't Love My Kids
• Fertility Stories
• Coping With Life
• Scobberlotch

Here's my question ... where the heck is everybody else?  How many millions of you out there have suffered depression and know how horrible it is?  How many of you wish there was more clarity around these illnesses?  Please join us in supporting the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act.

NurturePDX: Postpartum Body Image

Here is an interesting story from NurturePDX on how our postpartum body image affects our mental health and what impact society has on how we think we should look after having babies.  A highlight:

A negative postpartum body image can contribute to low self-esteem and postpartum depression, as well as a host of other negative emotional and societal effects. It can also cause a mother to diet which could potentially be detrimental to her infant if she is breastfeeding as well as contribute to postpartum depression symptoms from lack of nutrients and calories.

I cannot count the number of times I have heard mothers of young children say, "I have felt so unattractive since I had my baby." We need to reclaim the "mama body" and celebrate it as an image of strength, warmth, and beauty.

NIMH Seeking PPD Study Participants

The National Institutes of Mental Health is continually looking for people in the Maryland/DC/Virginia area to participate in research studies on postpartum depression and related illnesses.  Their studies are currently looking at the role hormones play in PPD.  As Annie Shellswick of NIMH explains:

"Many women have planned for their pregnancies, have a track record of success in life, have no history of depression .... and then, WHAM!  Unanticipated PPD. We think this may be caused by an abnormal sensitivity to a very normal change of hormones that effects a subgroup of women.  We need women to participate in the studies to find the answers."

Please consider participating if you live in the area, because research is so important to identifying the causes and best treatments.   For more information you can call Annie at 301-402-9207 or visit http://patientinfo.nimh.nih.gov/womensdisorders.aspx.

Part 2 of Becoming Me's PPD Journey

If you read the story last week in Postpartum Progress about the blogger from Becoming Me and her experience with a postpartum mood disorder, you'll want to read part 2.  She writes very beautifully about what it felt like and I know many of you will connect to her journey.

Online Hotel Booking Info for PSI Conference

If you're interested in booking your hotel online for the Postpartum Support International annual conference in Houston this June, here's the link to use to get the group discount at the Hilton Americas - Houston:

http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/HOUCVHH-IPC-20080603/index.jhtml

Group Name:	Mental Health Association - Postpartum Support Int! ernational
Group Code:	IPC
Hotel Name:	Hilton Americas- Houston
Hotel Address:	1600 Lamar
	Houston, Texas
	77010
Phone Number:	2819100072

Psych Central: WSJ Covers Problems Between Generic & Brand Name Drugs

This is a very interesting story from Dr. John Grohol over at Psych Central about the difference between some generic drugs and their associated brand-name versions as it was discussed in the Wall Street Journal.  I had no idea!!! 

The Wall Street Journal yesterday wrote an entry yesterday about how they differ — Inexact Copies: How Generics Differ From Brand Names. The spotlight is shining on generics because of their low cost and increasing reports about how being switched to a generic form of a medication can lead to negative side effects not experienced on the brand-name drug.

You might want to check out the link ...

Postpartum OCD Story from Grace Unbound

This is a very moving post from the blog Grace Unbound by a mother who wasn't able to confront her experience with postpartum OCD until her child was 6 years old.  Wow.  I can completely connect with her story, although I was able to get help much sooner thankfully.  I'm so glad she knows she's not "evil" now.  A highlight:

I don’t know the answer to ‘why me?’ Why did I get this disorder that changed the course of my early parenting years? Maybe I’ll never know. I know that it has taught me that secrets held too long leave their mark. I know that in some ways it did make me a better mother because fear gave me the desire to seek out parenting solutions that were gentle. I know it reaffirms the depths of love that my husband has for me, that when I finally told him he didn’t turn away, he didn’t reject me. I don’t know all the answers, but I know the peace that comes from being finally set free.

More Bloggers Speak Up for MOTHERS Act Petition

Thanks to Ask Moxie for writing about the online petition for the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act!  And to Wavybrains.com for supporting the MOTHERS Act!

Keep signing -- http://www.congress.org/ndmda/issues/alert/?alertid=11246546!

Early Registration Ends May 9 for PSI Conference

Early registration for the Postpartum Support International Annual Conference ends on May 9th.  If you register before then, you get a $50 discount on your total registration fee.  Go to www.postpartum.net/houston to download the PDF of the conference brochure and print out the registration form, which has info on how to fax or mail it in.

So Much PPD Work, So Little Time

This week has been SO busy.  My inbox is packed and I'm completely swamped.  I've talked to a new mom in Maryland having intrusive thoughts, a dad in Kansas City whose wife just had a baby and it seems like PPD may be coming on for the second time, a woman in Seattle looking for a therapist for PPD treatment for her sister, a mom in Texas considering having another child but unsure how to prevent a recurrence.  So many people in so many places who are experiencing or have experienced postpartum mood disorders.  So much need.  Sometimes I feel overwhelmed.  But so glad and honored that people feel comfortable reaching out to me.  I'm so glad to be able to support any and all of you in your journey through PPD.

Sorry I haven't been able to post much this week, but in the meantime here are some amazing women bloggers who've written about the online petition for the MOTHERS Act this week:

Spin Me I Pulsate

Beyond Blue

Moms Speak Up

Stroller Strides

PBS To Air "Depression: Out of the Shadows" on May 21

From the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI):

The national premiere of the PBS documentary, "DEPRESSION: Out of the Shadows", on Wednesday, May 21 at 9pm ET.  (Check local PBS station listings.)  The documentary weaves the science and treatment of depression with intimate portrayals of families and individuals living with its effects.  Personal stories include a woman from Minneapolis who experienced postpartum depression.

After the documentary, Jane Pauley will host "TAKE ONE STEP: Caring for Depression," a moderated panel discussion featuring NAMI medical director Ken Duckworth, Dennis Charney, MD, dean of Mt. Sinai Medical School, and Annelle Primm, MD, MPH, director of minority and national affairs for the American Psychiatric Association. 

Women Like Us: Poet Anne Sexton Suffered PPD

Did you know? ....  Apparently it is National Poetry Month, and because of this I have become aware that the Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet Anne Sexton suffered from postpartum depression.  Here is a bit of her biography from Poets.org:

"In 1953 she gave birth to a daughter. In 1954 she was diagnosed with postpartum depression, suffered her first mental breakdown, and was admitted to Westwood Lodge, a neuropsychiatric hospital she would repeatedly return to for help. In 1955, following the birth of her second daughter, Sexton suffered another breakdown and was hospitalized again; her children were sent to live with her husband's parents."

After that, Anne began writing poetry, as suggested by her doctor.  (photo credit: Rollie McKenna)

Gwyneth Paltrow Suffered PPD

So Gwyneth Paltrow admits in Vogue magazine this month that she suffered postpartum depression after the birth of her second child.  What does this tell us?  That she is a normal human being just like everyone else and is just as susceptible to postpartum depression as the next person.  I'm glad she was willing to share the teensiest bit of her story, and find it interesting that the following short paragraph ended up spreading like wildfire around the web, as reported by E! Online ...

The Oscar-winning mother of two is opening up about her battle with depression after giving birth to her and rocker hubby Chris Martin’s second child. “You know, I had postnatal depression after Moses," Paltrow says in the new issue of Vogue. “I didn’t know I had it until after it was over. I just didn’t know what was wrong with me...I felt really out of my body. I felt really disconnected. I felt really down; I felt pessimistic.”

Girl, we feel you.  We've been there.  As to whether it was caused, as she indicates, by her cessation of acupuncture and massage treatments I'm not so sure.  But what do I know?

PPD Warrior Chicks Rock!

Postpartum Depression Warrior Chicks (and the supportive "roosters" out there), you rock!  The Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance's online petition to support the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act has now reached nearly 12,000 signatures in a week and a half.  I'm so excited for you and all of the other concerned people around the country who are taking action to show they care for new mothers.

Do we need more signatures?  ABSOLUTELY!!  Those U.S. Senators need to hear completely loud and clear that we believe the women of America deserve more research into the cause of postpartum mood disorders, better trained healthcare providers and greater awareness to reduce the stigma.  Keep pressing on your friends, and loved ones, and church members, and neighbors, and pets with opposable thumbs to sign, sign, SIGN!  Let's get 100,000 signatures -- don't forget, 800,000 women in America suffer from postpartum mood disorders each year. 

Here is the link again to the DBSA online petition, which is supported fully by Postpartum Support International (and Postpartum Progress, of course!): http://www.capwiz.com/ndmda/issues/alert/?alertid=11246546

We especially need to hear from people in the following states:  Massachusetts, North Carolina, Maine, Minnesota, Tennessee, Colorado, Mississippi, Utah, Connecticut, Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, West Virginia, Kansas, Delaware, Hawaii, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Idaho, DC, Alabama, South Dakota, Montana, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Wyoming.  If you know people who live there, give them a shout out and see how they feel about the MOTHERS Act.  Bloggers in those areas, please help us out.  I hope more people from those states will be able to join us in supporting this bill, which is about taking positive action against a devastating illness.  I've got a Mississippi family contingent that I'm going to start calling as soon as I'm done with this post!! 

Author Stefanie Wilder-Taylor Shares Her PPD Experience on BabyShrink

Here is a link to an interview BabyShrink conducted with Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, author of the books Sippy Cups are Not for Chardonnay: And Other Things I Had to Learn as a New Mom and the newly released Naptime is the New Happy Hour: And Other Ways Toddlers Turn Your Life Upside Down. In the interview Stefanie, who has appeared several times on The Today Show, shares her experience with postpartum depression.

PPD DVD Wins Award

Mental Health Ministries has received a Bronze Telly Award for its DVD, Breaking the Silence: Postpartum Depression and Families of Faith.   Since 1978, Telly's mission as been to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting and supporting creativity.   The 28th Annual Telly Awards received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents.  Congratulations!

New Guidelines On Use of Psychiatric Meds During Pregnancy

From Medscape:

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has issued updated guidelines for the treatment of certain psychiatric illnesses during pregnancy and breast-feeding. The April 2008 Practice Bulletin updates the previous November 2007 bulletin and is based on current evidence of risks and benefits of treatment of psychiatric illnesses during pregnancy. The guidelines are designed to aid clinicians in providing appropriate care.

"The bulletin acknowledges that there's good evidence that untreated or inadequately treated mental illness is unhealthy, which is probably one of the first times it's ever been pointed out so definitively," Zachary N. Stowe, MD, from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who contributed to the development of these guidelines, told Medscape Psychiatry.

The study is published in the April issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Mom Needs Your Support

Ladies, please reach out and leave a comment with your support to this mom who was just diagnosed with PPD:  http://julinda.wordpress.com/2008/04/14/postpartum-depression/

More Mommy Bloggers Share Their PPD Stories

Here is a link to the Becoming Me blog where a mom opens up to share her story about antepartum and postpartum depression. 

And another GREAT PPD story from the Dig Your Toes In blog ... here is a highlight:

For me, PPD looked (looks) like this:

• Feeling off.  Just off.
• Feeling disconnected–from my life, from my kids, from my husband
• Feeling like I’m in a ‘fog.’
• Lacking joy.  Lacking joy in being a Mom, in little things that I normally love, in life in general.
• Guilt, guilt, and more guilt. 
• Just feeling down
• Having my ‘default’ attitude be negative and pessimistic rather than fairly optimistic
• Wanting to run away.  To sleep, to hide, to curl up in a ball.
• Shrinking when my children cried.
• Inability to focus
• “Escaping” often.  To the computer, to phone calls, to books, to anything to get me out of my ‘real life’ and my feelings.
• Snapping at my children very, very easily
• Feeling overwhelmed all the time
• Feeling like no matter what I just couldn’t get it all together.

And a link to the Unfolding... blog and another story about PPD.

Do New CDC Statistics Underestimate Real PPD Numbers?

I've been thinking more about the latest statistics on PPD in the U.S. recently released by the CDC.  As I wrote last week, the report included information from women in 17 states who responded either "often" or "always" to the following questions:

• Since your new baby was born, how often have you felt down, depressed, or hopeless?
• Since your new baby was born, how often have you had little interest or little pleasure in doing things?

The study found that women with PPD were more likely to be younger, less educated, and in financial or emotional stress.  In response, Postpartum Progress reader and total warrior chick Kim pointed out the following:

I wonder where I fit in? 36 year old non-smoking woman with happy marriage, financially stable, and a master's degree... I would think I was an anomaly but the few woman I know who have gone through it are all more like me. Strange.

A similar thought occurred to me when I was looking at the data.  I was 32 when I had my son, had been married 8 years and happily planned for this birth, was completely financially stable and had a great career and a college degree.  And lots of the women I know who've gone through PPD are like that as well.  From the women I've talked to around the country and across the world, it seems like people from all backgrounds are highly vulnerable.  Are there risk factors that make it more likely for some people than for others?  Sure.    But this does lead me to ask the following question:  Are those women who happen to have more education, better finances and more stable environments just less likely to self-report?

And if the CDC states that the percentage of women in the U.S. who experience PPD is probably somewhere in the 15% range based on the number of women who self-report, what must the percentage REALLY be, considering how many of us dare not open our mouths to self-report out of fear?  I mean, this is not like self-reporting a sore throat or headaches.  Postpartum mood disorders are the kind of illness that lots of people aren't interested in volunteering personal information about.  Could the true number of new moms in the U.S. suffering these illnesses be more like 20% to  25%?  More?

Supporting Mothers Everywhere

Have you signed the petition yet?

http://capwiz.com/ndmda/issues/alert/?alertid=11246546

Here are some other women who are speaking up in support of the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act:

• Mental Health Notes
• Healthy Concerns
• Out of the Valley
• Postpartum Perspective
• Giggles and Gulps
• Dig Your Toes In

MOTHERS Act Losing Momentum -- Online Petition Needs Your Signature

It's time to talk about the Melanie Blocker Stokes (MBS) MOTHERS Act again.  I know, I know.  We've heard this all before, you're thinking.  I already called my Senator, you're thinking.  I already wrote about this on my blog, you're thinking.  Sheesh!, you may even be thinking.  Well, apparently everything you and I have done so far in support of this bill hasn't been enough. 

As you may know, there are some people who are completely convinced that the MBS MOTHERS Act is a conspiratorial plot by the government to drug pregnant and postpartum women, and it must be STOPPED AT ALL COSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You and I know that's not true.  So we've kind of ignored the negative campaign -- been slightly pissed and sometimes even truly annoyed but gone on with our day because it's silly and we have lots of more important things to worry about than some misguided folks.  But the U.S. Senate can't ignore it when lots and lots and lots of people speak out.  That's how they work, right?  Polls.  When they hear from lots of people on a certain issue, they tend to go in that direction.  Right now our Senators are hearing from a whole host of people who think it's a really bad idea to pass this bill -- a bill that provides funding for increased research into the cause and treatments of postpartum mood disorders, provides better training for healthcare providers and provides for an awareness campaign so that more women will know about these illnesses and realize that they can get help. Those people, bless their hearts, are very vocal and have every right to say what they think. (Tom Cruise must be very pleased.) 

Conversely, those who believe in the MBS MOTHERS Act are not being anywhere near vocal enough. Our Senators are NOT HEARING from enough of those of us who support it.  If this trend continues, this bill will not pass.  What happened to us, and to hundreds of thousands like us, and to our friends and sisters and mothers and girlfriends will keep happening.  Women will continue to think they've gone crazy, never to return to their old selves.  They will continue to live in fear of speaking up and telling someone about it.  They will continue to be afraid to lose their children.  They will continue to suffer, hurting both their health and the health of their children, because they won't get treatment.  Some might even kill themselves, or become so ill they harm their children.  That is unacceptable to me.  Is it acceptable to you?  I started this blog because I was damn well not going to let anybody go through the isolation and terror and ineffective treatment from an untrained doctor that I received.  Don't you feel the same? 

Postpartum Progress readers, and anyone who cares about postpartum mood disorders, I very humbly beg you to complete two very easy assignments:

1.  Click this link and sign this petition to support passage of the MBS MOTHERS Act.  It is as easy as pie.  Thanks to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance for getting the petition going.  All you have to do is fill out your name and address and click send, and it will be sent all the proper places.   The petition is also supported by Postpartum Support International.

2.  Forward the petition link to everyone you know and tell them to sign their name to it as well.

We need thousands of people to do this.  Not just a few hundred.  Seriously, thousands.  Please get clicking. And if you have a website, or an organization of proactive women and moms, or a blog, please get your readers/members involved ASAP.

P.S.  In case you're wondering, here is a list of the respected organizations that endorse the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act:

• Postpartum Support International
• Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• Children's Defense Fund
• March of Dimes
• American College of Nurse Midwives
• Suicide Prevention Action Network USA
• Mental Health America
• Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
• National Alliance on Mental Illness
• National Women's Law Center
• National Partnership for Women & Families
• National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
• Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
• American Psychological Association
• American Psychiatric Association
• Postpartum Resource Center of New York

If you would like to add your organization to this illustrious list, please let me know at stonecallis@msn.com.  (They can't all be part of the conspiracy to drug America's moms, can they???)
 

CDC Releases Latest Statistics on PPD Today

Per Miranda Hitti at WebMD, the CDC today issued its latest statistics on postpartum depression, and the figures show that certain groups of women may be at higher risk.  The CDC's report included more than 52,000 new moms in 17 states. The prevalence of self-reported postpartum depression ranged from 11.7% in Maine to 20.4% in New Mexico.  Postpartum depression was more often reported by teenage moms, mothers with less than 12 years of education, Medicaid patients, smokers, victims of physical abuse before or during pregnancy, and women under traumatic or financial stress during pregnancy.  Having a low-birth-weight baby or a baby admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit was also tied to self-reported postpartum depression in most of the 17 states.

The postpartum depression statistics, published in the April 11 edition of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, don't separate women who became depressed after giving birth from women who were already depressed before pregnancy.

The CDC urges women to get treatment for postpartum depression for the sake of mother and baby alike.

The CDC also notes that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that doctors screen all new moms for postpartum depression four to six weeks after birth.

P.S.  Here's a link to the Wall Street Journal's health blog's coverage of the CDC report on postpartum depression.

Moms Need Your Support

Warrior chicks who've been through PPD -- reach out to this momma and tell her you love her:  http://thechroniclesofmunchkinland.com/2008/04/01/the-weight-is-heavy/

And this momma too: http://abooblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/many-moons.html

And this one: http://wheresmycape.blogspot.com/2008/03/going-out-with-bang.html

And this one: http://kimmelinhull.blogspot.com/2008/03/as-i-sit-in-wild-joes-organic-coffee.html

We need to stick together.

PPD Screening Program in MI Receives Grant

The American Psychiatric Foundation (APF) has named five universities as the recipients of Helping Hands Grants, and one of the winning programs focuses on postpartum depression.

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Upper Peninsula Campus in Marquette, Michigan, is being awarded the grant for the "Upper Peninsula Maternal Emotional Support Program" to implement a network of postpartum depression (PPD) risk assessment screening opportunities, professional educational curriculums and integrated community outreach efforts for all new mothers in the Upper Peninsula.  This program will establish a consistent risk assessment screening progam for PPD at Marquette General Hospital, educate health professionals in the use of PPD screening tools and provide outreach and community resources to at-risk mothers to reach 2,300 patients, physicians and staff.

Each of the five recipients receives a $5,000 grant for a community mental health service project initiated and managed by medical students under the supervision of medical faculty. The Helping Hands Grant Program raises awareness of mental illness and the importance of early recognition and builds an interest amongst medical students in psychiatry and working in underserved communities. The American Psychiatric Foundation is the philanthropic and educational arm of the American Psychiatric Association. The mission of the foundation is to advance understanding that mental illnesses are real and can be effectively treated. For more information, please visit the foundation's Web site at http://www.psychfoundation.org/ . The awards are made possible through an unrestricted educational grant from Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.

Go State!  (I'm an MSU alumna.)