Strong Start Day- Supporting Postpartum Progress

“Only 15% of all women with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders ever receive professional treatment. This means that each year another 850,000 women and their children may suffer from the negative effects of untreated postpartum depression and related illnesses for the rest of their lives because they never got the help they needed. And that’s just in the United States.” – Katherine Stone, Postpartum Progress

Today, I’m joining my friend Katherine from PostpartumProgress.com to help raise awareness for this worthwhile cause. Postpartum Progress has been operating for 7 years without any funding, and Katherine has done great things. Now, she wants to take the support for mothers with postpartum depression and anxiety to new heights. Her goal is to raise $30,000 so that Postpartum Progress can execute exciting new projects, including:

~ Developing a a compelling national awareness campaign for postpartum depression
~ Creating new and improved patient education materials for distribution by hospitals (the kind new moms won’t throw away!)
~ Translating “plain momma English” information and support into Spanish and other languages

Motherhood is hard on us all, at some point, I think, but some mothers don’t even know that the overwhelming sadness, the suffocating guilt, or the intrusive thoughts they frequently experience are signs of something much bigger than the “baby blues.” And even if they do, many don’t know what direction to take their first step in to get help.

I’m writing this blog today for 3 reasons:

1. To show my support for Katherine and all that she does.
2. To ask you to also support her and Postpartum Progress by donating to the cause (donation button below) and/or spreading the word.
3. To share the resources at Postpartum Progress with you, like The Symptoms of Postpartum Depression & Anxiety (in plain mamma English), and make sure you’re all aware that there is an amazingly supportive community you can turn to if you need help.

If you feel compelled to do so, if you are in a place to do so, if you would like to donate, you can here: