Do you care about postpartum depression? You should.

Every mother shares a common wish.  It doesn’t matter what level of education she has, where she lives, her race or her religion: she wants desperately to be a good mom.  Imagine then, that most important dream being dashed at the start.  At a time when others celebrate new life, this mom is devastated, disconnected and afraid.  Her symptoms can range from the inability to eat or sleep, to disturbing thoughts about harming her child, to numbness or feelings of unbridled rage, among others.  She is unable to function on a daily basis.  She is convinced without question that she has failed as a mother.

The only way to reverse that perception and get her new family off to a healthy, strong start is to treat her for the most common complications of childbirth: postpartum depression and anxiety.  Except, she either doesn’t know she needs treatment or, if she does, she doesn’t know where to find it or doesn’t have access to it.  Like the vast majority of other mothers with her condition, she won’t get the professional help she needs.   She has no idea whatsoever that this could lead to health problems, including lifelong chronic depression, and that her baby is being affected negatively as well when it comes to his or her cognitive development, attachment and future psychological health.

It might be one thing if she was among just a handful of moms, but she isn’t.  She is among more than half a million mothers with untreated postpartum depression each year, as well as several hundred thousand more still suffering from illnesses that were never treated the previous years, and at least one million children whose future health is unquestionably at stake.  And that’s just in America.

Postpartum Progress is working to change that.  We need your help.  We are counting on you to help us by donating today.  If you join our cause by writing a post in support of Strong Start Day, please add your link below.  If you send an email to all your friends and loved ones asking for their support by donating to help moms with postpartum depression, please let us know in the comments section.  And know that we plan to list every single person who donates to our cause this week, except for those who prefer to remain anonymous.

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