Since we lost our daughter Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling to PPD in 2001, our family founded a program at Northshore University Health Systems in Evanston, Ill., that screens pregnant mothers for postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. Central to the program is a 24-hour help line (866-364-6667) new moms can call when they or their families need help. Answering the phones are trained professionals who can help with both big and little problems.
It remains essential regardless of how one feels about the type of treatment a doctor might give that this illness have a name and be recognized as such by the medical community, mothers and their families.
Quite simply, this potentially lethal illness flourishes in a climate of apathy, ignorance and silence. The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act will go a long way to remove the ignorance.
Joan Mudd
Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling Foundation
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