Yesterday I went to New York City in support of two very important programs that I believe are related to postpartum depression:

The Million Moms Challenge – This partnership between ABC News, the UN Foundation, BabyCenter, Johnson & Johnson, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and thousands of moms like YOU, focuses on crucial issues that are a priority for all mothers, including access to proper nutrition to support healthy pregnancies, trained midwives to assist in safe deliveries, and vaccines that enable children to survive to their first birthdays and beyond.

Shot@Life – This program from the UN Foundation will expand access to lifesaving vaccines for children in developing countries. Did you know that every 20 seconds a child dies from a disease that could have been prevent by a vaccine, and that for only $20 a child can receive lifelong protection against measles, pneumonia, diarrhea, and polio?

So you might be asking yourself, “Why is Katherine doing this? Does she care about postpartum depression anymore? Is she losing focus?”

Here’s why I went:  According to the World Health Organization, “Young children of depressed mothers are much more likely to be exposed to risk factors for child mortality.  For example, infants of depressed mothers are five times more likely to show signs of malnourishment and poor growth than other infants.  Also, depressed mothers tend to stop breastfeeding and their babies are significantly more like to suffer diarrheal episodes or to not have their complete immunizations.”

I go to these things because I care about all maternal health issues but most importantly because I care about women with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders like postpartum depression most of all.  I care about women with PPD in developing countries as much as I do about the women who are reading this blog right now from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and elsewhere.

I want people involved in global maternal health to know and understand that their programs are not going to work for the millions of moms across the world with postpartum depression and related illnesses unless we address their depression too.  Research shows that these suffering women don’t ask for help, are less likely to go to the doctor, and are less likely to follow health and safety recommendations including following physician’s treatment plans or getting immunizations for their children.  When they are emotionally well, they are better able to do all the things they need to in order to care for their health and that of their babies.

People need to know this.  When they know, we are more likely to see maternal mental health integrated into all maternal health programs.