Welcome y’all!! It’s our fourth year in a row of celebrating Mother’s Day by speaking out about the mental health of mothers everywhere.

Maybe you are a new mom and you are dreading Mother’s Day 2012. You don’t feel like celebrating, or you feel oddly disconnected. Maybe you’re just miserable. That’s okay, girl. Many of us have been there.

Maybe you’re a survivor of postpartum depression or a related illness. It’s been a year or two and you are still looking over your shoulder wondering if it’s about to come back. Or you’re thinking of having another child and wondering how much of a crazy idea that might be. We’ve been there, too.

Or maybe it’s been many years now since you struggled with a perinatal mental illness. It’s so far behind you that you can look back and see how fully you recovered. It can’t hurt you anymore, and you feel solid in that knowledge. You are a happy, confident mom. Still, you make sure to educate the women around you about postpartum depression, because you don’t want any mother, ever, to suffer alone.

Whatever the situation, we’re so happy to have you. Postpartum Progress’ annual Mother’s Day Rally for Moms’ Mental Health features the words of more than 20 different moms who are sharing their own experiences with postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum psychosis and antenatal depression. They want you to know what happened to them. They want to share what they learned from their experience that will help you. They want you to have hope.

So get ready, every hour on the hour you’ll be able to read a new letter. We call them letters to new moms, but be assured whether you just had your first baby a few weeks ago or a few months ago, or you’re having or just had your second, third or fourth, these words are for all of you.

We love you.

~ Katherine