What is a Warrior Mom?

By April 9, 2010

I felt completely awful about myself when going through postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder. Full of shame and guilt and ickiness. If there was a place lower than Hell, further South than Antarctica, darker than a black hole, I was there. I needed someone to help me see that rather than being weak and defective, I was strong. I didn’t feel strong, yet I was. Because as sick as I was I still tried to make it through each day the best I could. Even though I was violently ill, I made the effort to hold it together as much as I could to care for my baby, with breaks of falling apart in between. Looking back on it now, and knowing as many of you as I know who have been throughperinatal mood and anxiety disordersor are going through them, I seeyou as strong, beautiful women who are growing, albeit painfully, into strong, beautiful mothers. You are my Warrior Moms.

Thus the inspiration for the Postpartum Progress logo:

Oh, and guys reading this site, don’t worry. I’m not ignoring you. In fact, if you’re a guy and you read Postpartum Progress you are a hero as far as I’m concerned. We need more men like you taking a proactive approach to learn all you can and support your wives, sisters, friends, daughters, girlfriends and partners. You can be Warrior Dads.

And for that matter, other people reading this site who haven’t had a perinatal mood disorder, who I’m going to call Other People Reading This Site Who Haven’t Had a Perinatal Mood Disorder, we love you too. Thanks for taking the time to inform yourself about our world. Support from all sides is paramount.

April 9, 2010 11:01 pm Filed Under: Causes
About Katherine Stone

Katherine Stone is a parenting writer and a nationally-recognized peer advocate for women who suffer mental illnesses related to pregnancy & childbirth. She is the creator & editor of Postpartum Progress, and a survivor of postpartum OCD.

Katherine goes wherever necessary to speak about how common postpartum depression is and to combat the terrible stigma related to this illness. She has shared her story openly and written about PPD as a contributing expert for BlogHer, the world’s top community for and guide to blogs by women, as well as for PBS’ This Emotional Life website. She has appeared in videos on postpartum depression for Health.com and iVillage, and her supportive words have appeared on The Today Show’s website and ABC’s Million Moms Challenge. She has personally responded to thousands upon thousands of emails from suffering mothers, helping them to find professional help and encouraging them along their journey to recovery.

Katherine was chosen by WebMD as a 2008 Health Hero, recognizing individuals who overcome challenges and help transform healthcare. She was also the winner of the 2010 Bloganthropy Award, given for using social media to make a difference, and a 2011 Media Award from Mental Health America, given for outstanding coverage and portrayals of mental health issues during the previous year. She was named as one of the Top 50 Twitter Moms of 2011.

Katherine is also the founder of Postpartum Progress Inc., a national nonprofit focused on vastly improving the support and services for women with perinatal depression. She does all of her advocacy work full time on a volunteer basis while also raising her two kids. Additionally, she is currently a parenting news writer for Babble’s Strollerderby. In the past, Katherine has served as a parenting columnist at AOL’s ParentDish, and on the board of directors of Postpartum Support International.

Katherine’s media appearances include Health.com, More, Cookie, Newsweek, Fit Pregnancy, Scholastic Parent & Child, US News & World Report, iVillage, Cafe Mom, The Week, The Huffington Post, FOX5 San Diego, American Medical News, WebMD, Sirius Doctor Radio and more. She has co-hosted Twitter chats on postpartum depression with the March of Dimes as well as ABC News’ Dr. Richard Besser. Katherine speaks widely about postpartum depression, and has done speeches at such events as the Georgia Perinatal Association Annual Conference, Tennessee’s annual Fall Psychiatric Symposium, the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative conference and more. She also enjoys speaking about blogging, as has presented at BlogHer, Blissdom and the Type A Parent Conference.

Prior to becoming a full-time advocate and stay-at-home mom of two, Stone spent 7 years in marketing at The Coca-Cola Company, most recently as Director of Experiential Marketing. She lives in the Atlanta area. You can follow her on Twitter at @postpartumprogr.

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