National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation – Webinar: Identifying and Treating Maternal Depression

National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation – Webinar: Identifying and Treating Maternal Depression to take place on December 9, 2009 at 1:00pm -2:30pm EST. Registration is free. Please click on the previous link for information and to register for this event.

According to NIHCM’s website,This webinar will explore the prevalence of maternal depression and the current state of screening for perinatal and postpartum depression. It will include a discussion of the recent recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the treatment of women with depression during pregnancy. The role of primary care providers in identifying and managing postpartum depression will also be discussed and a web-based training program to educate providers on screening, diagnosis, treatment and referral for postpartum depression will be shared. Finally, the session will highlight a current health plan program to identify and manage depression during pregnancy and coordinate care following a depression diagnosis to ensure healthy pregnancies and deliveries.”

Please pass this information on to anyone you may know that will benefit from this important webinar. I am planning on attending myself because the information to be discussed sounds absolutely fascinating. I am particularly interested in the discussion of the role of the primary are providers in identifying and managing postpartum depression as so many patients often first seek help from their primary caregivers rather than a specialist.

What a crazy week!

Monday: middle child diagnosed with Bronchitis after an hour wait at pediatrician’s office. Come home, get her on bus, take youngest to get her medicine. Maybe an hour to myself in the middle of the day.

Tuesday: Husband diagnosed with bronchitis at ER after difficulty breathing. (Did not get to sleep until nearly 2am only to wake up at 545 to get daughter on bus in time!)

Wednesday: Recovery

Thursday: Oldest daughter’s cough gets worse.

Friday: Oldest daughter’s cough is much much worse, brought home early from an evening with grandparents.

Saturday: Urgent care with oldest. Diagnosis? Ear Infection and severe allergies.

Sunday: Catching up on the important stuff like email, blogging and trying to bake brownies in the waffle iron.

yeah. It’s been one of THOSE weeks.

Speaking up across the blogosphere 10.30.09

I know, I know, I’m a day late. I have had a sick kid and now I’ve got a sick husband. Last night I crashed well before 11p which is a record for me as most nights I don’t go to bed until midnight or so. Life. It happens.

I’ve got a really great stories for you to read today. Enjoy, show some support, and thanks for sharing the journey!

Brittani at Holding Little Hands shares the contrast between her first and second postpartum experience. (Having a great postpartum experience the second time around really does make you realize you were robbed the first time around. Coping with the ensuing anger/guilt can be difficult!)

 

Just Talkin’ Tuesday 10.27.09: What’s YOUR Postpartum Mood Disorder Story?

women talking in sunset

Original Photo taken by tranchis @ flickr

This site was started to help me re-frame an unexpected pregnancy after two rather nasty experiences with Postpartum OCD. Turns out that by doing so I not only helped myself but managed to help a lot of other women along the way.

There was a point during my suffering when I dreaded having to retell my story. Looking back I should have just typed the whole thing up and kept copies on hand – kind of like a resume. (Hey – not a bad idea if you end up having to hunt for a decent doctor!) But there came a turning point where my story began to foster a sense of strength and self. Finally I began to bloom.

We’re all at different points on our journey. Some of us are right in the thick of it, some of us a bit further out, others are fully recovered, some have relapsed and are struggling right back out thanks to the path we carved out the last time we fell down. But we are all in it together.

Rather than retype my entire story here (cuz that would take some time!), you can click here to read about “The Day” I was admitted to psych ward. And if you’re brave enough (ie, preferably not in the thick of it or relapsed) you can read another piece I’ve written here about some of the thoughts I had when things were so dark I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face.

For me and for many others, telling our story or even venting has become a powerful source of personal therapy. It’s a way to just get some of the stress out of our body, our mind, and even possibly work through issues.

So let’s get to just talkin’ here. I want to hear your stories. I want to know what you’ve gone through/are going through. Speak up. We’re here to be supportive, compassionate, and lend our hearts.

I can’t wait to read what you have to share!

Joel Schwartzberg talks with Postpartum Dads Project about Paternal Postnatal Depression

40YROLD.COVER2An interview with Joel Schwartzberg, author of The 40 Year old Version: Humoirs of a Divorced Dad, is featured today over at the Postprtum Dads Project. Joel opens up about his depression after the birth of his son, divorce, and how coming to terms with the dad he is helped him feel comfortable in his “dadhood.”

While male depression after the birth of a child may not have the same underlying causes as a woman’s depression, it remains an important topic to discuss. In fact, if mom is depressed, there’s a 50% chance Dad is depressed as well. Even with the increase in depression rates for new dads, they are still expected to “man up,” as Joel puts it. But this can be hard for Dad to do if he’s struggling with depression. Trying to function while depressed is much like trying to escape from quicksand. The harder you try on your own, the deeper you fall. It’s not until someone holds out a branch of hope that you start to make progress. Emotional health really is a whole family issue. The healthier a family is emotionally, the better they will do in life.

Click here to check out Joel’s story!