Welcome to Childbirth Today's 2012 Blog Carnival - honoring the busy month of May and all of the celebrations of midwives, nurses, doulas and childbirth educators...AND mothers! Today's blog carnival entry features a post by Kathy Morelli LPC and owner of www.birthtouch.com.
In May, 2011, the President of
Postpartum Support International (PSI), Dr. Lucy Puryear, announced May has
been designated as National Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month. Many states
and counties have also designated May as a time to raise awareness about
perinatal mood disorders. Postpartum Support International (PSI) uses the
slogan,
“Speak
Up When You’re Down”
as
part of their awareness campaign. This slogan was originally developed by the
state of New Jersey to help families realize it is ok to speak up, ask the
questions they need to ask and get the help they need at this transformative
time of life.
It is a well-known statistic that
one in four women suffers depression at some point in her life. The time around the childbearing year is when
a woman is more likely to suffer depression than at any other time in her
life (Nonacs, 2006). Ruta Nonacs, MD (2011), editor-in-chief of Massachusetts General Hospital's
Center of Women’s Mental Health's website estimates annually in the
US about 950,000 to 1,000,000 mothers suffer from depression either during or
after childbirth every year, out of a total of about 4 million birthing
mothers.
Did you know the World Health
Organization lists depression as one of the top two to four
causes of disability (defined as the loss of productive life) worldwide today? As a society we are very quiet about an
extremely prevalent illness, no? Mental illness is more prevalent than many
other more publicized illnesses, but mum's the word, huh?
You think there is no public stigma?
No self-shame? Have you noticed there is no nationwide Walk for Depression? Do
you know the color of the depression ribbon?
It is very good news there are
effective treatments for depression and postpartum depression. Sadly, the World Health
Organization (WHO, 2012) estimates less than 25 % of persons
affected by depression receive any treatment at all. WHO (2012) says social stigma associated with
mental illness (simply put, shame), lack of personal resources and the lack of
trained clinicians are the top barriers to receiving proper treatment.
So, think about that, only about 25%
of those moms actually seek and receive help for perinatal depression. So many
women cope all alone, managing their very real emotional pain while in the at
the same time coping with an infant.
Postpartum Support International says
that postnatal depression is the most common complication in childbirth today.
Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Women says there are more occurrences
of perinatal depression than pre-term labor or pre-eclampsia. Pretty surprising
statistics, no?
Visit the Postpartum Support International website
to find the warmline support phone line number or to get information about
perinatal mood disorders.
Wendy Davis, Executive Director of
PSI, announced the beginning of NMDAM to the PSI volunteer network last week
with some videos posted on the PSI You Tube channel.
Please
enjoy the video by Wade Bowen called Turn on the Lights from his album If
We Ever Make It Home
This
song was written after his wife suffered from postpartum depression and it is
about his family's experiences with the illness. He generously has turned this
into a benefit for Postpartum Support International.
You
are not alone.
Pick
up the phone.
Call
the PSI Warmline at 503-894-9763
Happy,
Healthy May and Happy Mother’s Day to all !
References:
Massachusetts
General Hospital (2012). Psychiatric disorders during pregnancy. Retrieved
March 27, 2012
Nonacs,
R. (2006). A deeper shade of blue. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Postpartum
Support International (PSI, 2009). Components of care. Seattle: PSI
Puryear,
L. J. (2007). Understanding your moods when you're expecting. New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company.
World
Health Organization (WHO, 2012). Depression. Retrieved March 31, 2012
About the author:
Kathy Morelli. LPC, practices professional marriage and family
counseling in New Wayne, Jersey. She specializes in Marriage, Motherhood and
Mental Health®. She volunteers on PSI's
warmline. Kathy is the author of BirthTouch® Shiatsu & Acupressure for
the Childbearing Year and BirthTouch® Healing for Parents in the
NICU. She'd love a visit at birthtouch.com
3 comments:
Kathy ~ Thanks for sharing this post. This is such a critical issue that deserves attention by everyone who comes into contact with mothers in the postpartum window. ~ Jeanette
Kathy ~ Thanks for sharing this post. Perinatal mood disorders are so often overlooked, and pieces like yours help educate care providers. Keep up the important work of educating *all* of the providers that interact with women in the postpartum period.
Hi Jeannette - thanks for checking in! Did you know postpartum depression is considered the foremost complication in childbirth today, from PSI...
take care Kathy
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