MOTHER's Act

This post is for all mothers out there. Those who have suffered with post-partum mood and anxiety disorders, and those blessed enough to have passed through that period unscathed.

I am a new mother, but I have learned volumes in my few short months as a mom about the terror and devastation these issues can wreak on a mother, father, child and family.

It is estimated that 15-20% of new moms - about 1 million in the US each year - suffer from post-partum depression. This is not the baby blues. It is a debilitating mood disorder that a mother cannot just "snap out of" or "suck it up and get over". It is one that requires support and treatment, sometimes medical, essential in helping the mother, baby and family recover.

Many people are unaware that there is a spectrum of mood and anxiety disorders beyond post-partum depression that mothers can also suffer from. Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders include antepartum depression, postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, postpartum psychosis and postpartum post-traumatic stress disorder. These women are not defective, or weak, or bad people. While the exact cause of these illnesses is not yet known, research shows there are a wide variety of risk factors, from family medical history, to how one's body processes certain hormones, to the level of stress experienced now or in the past, to how much support a mother has to help care for her baby. What we do know is that this is not their fault.

One size does not fit all – there are all kinds of symptoms a mother may (or may not) experience in the period during pregnancy and after birth. These include:
· Sadness
· Mood swings
· Difficulty concentrating
· Irritation or anger (with yourself and/or those around you)
· Lack of interest in things you used to enjoy
· Sleep and appetite changes
· Panic attacks
· Excessive worry about your baby
· Disturbing thoughts about harming yourself or your baby
· Mania
· Racing thoughts
· Panic attacks
· Headaches and stomach problems
· Guilt
· Feeling like you should never have become a mother or that you won’t be able to do it
· Delusions or hallucinations

(For more information on each illness and its symptoms, visit the Postpartum Support International website at http://www.postpartum.net/brief.html )

If you believe you have symptoms of a perinatal disorder, I encourage you to seek help. If your wife, daughter, friend or family member shows signs, please support them, help out however you can, and ENCOURAGE them to seek help. There is no good reason to delay reaching out for help. Many studies show that both the physical and emotional health of women who go untreated, and their children, are negatively impacted over the long term. You deserve to be healthy, and your child needs a healthy mom.

Lastly, there is a key piece of legislation under review right now called the MOTHER's Act, sponsored in part by the mother of Melanie Blocker Stokes, a new mom who lost her life to post-partum depression. This new legislation encourages more research, funding and support for perinatal disorders, and in particular supports screening of new moms to help catch these disorders earlier and more effectively.

Many moms don't realize that what they're feeling is not normal. They think that everyone struggles through the pregnancy and new-mom phase, which is true, but they don't realize the extent to which they are suffering is NOT normal. It is difficult for new moms to know where to turn today - their OBs are often unaware or ill-equipped to recognize or diagnose perinatal disorders, their family doctors are frequently in the same boat, and the stigma that surrounds these diseases prevents them from reaching out for help.

Please, for the moms in your life, I ask you click here to read about the Mother's Act, and if you see fit, to sign your support for it and help this important piece of legislature pass.