Last night as I was traversing Publix during our weekly grocery trip, all three kids in tow, I managed to flip through a copy of YOU, Having a Baby by Dr. Michael Roizen, M.D., and Dr. Mehmet Oz, M.D. Yes, that’s the same Dr. Oz with the daily TV show.
I picked it up and flipped to the index. Betcha can’t guess what I was checking for…. c’mon. Guess!
I almost didn’t find Postpartum Depression. When I did, it had three page numbers listed. Thankfully, Postpartum Psychosis was listed right below it so I flipped to the page closest to that one. (Pages 272 & 273 if you’re wondering.)
Dr. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet?
THANK YOU.
Thank you for addressing Postpartum Mood Disorders properly.
Thank you for distinguishing between Baby Blues and Postpartum Depression.
Thank you for acknowledging that if a woman even THINKS there’s a problem she should see her provider.
THANK YOU for talking about scary thoughts.
THANK YOU for writing so honestly and informatively about Postpartum Psychosis and not making moms who have PPP seem like hopeless cases. Because they’re not.
I was very impressed indeed.
I can only hope other pregnancy book authors will follow your lead and write so honestly and informatively about Postpartum Mood Disorders. Moms deserve nothing less.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I did not receive anything at all for writing this review. It is an honest gut reaction from randomly picking the book up while my two year old attempted to nap on my chest as we waited for Daddy to bring his sisters back from a bathroom break. It doesn’t get anymore real and honest than that, people. And yes, there is a link to purchase the book @ Amazon BUT it is not a link via my Amazon Associates account. Just a plain ol’ link.)
I see what you’re saying, but I was actually disappointed. They dedicated only a teensy portion of the book to the topic and offered no resources. So how’s a woman supposed to know where to go or how to get help or that there are lots of great resources out there? I think they could have done more, though I’m grateful they wrote about it.
I do agree that they could have at least directed women to further resources but out of all the pregnancy books I’ve looked through, I feel they dealt with it the best. It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly better than glossing over the subject or ignoring it completely. Maybe I’ll got to Barnes & Noble to sit down and read through the whole thing soon.
It is quite shocking that pregnancy books don’t include more on PPD. I was equally shocked recently went I went to my local Barnes and Noble (during a moment when I needed to run away from home) and went to roam in the pregnancy book section. There was not one book on PPD. I couldn’t believe it! And it wasn’t that they were all sold out. They don’t stock them anymore. YIKES!!
Liz –
What Barnes & Noble was this? Did you ask if this was just a decision at that location or is it a company wide decision? I’d like to give them a piece of my mind. Please let me know.
Warmest,
Lauren
Hi Lauren,
I did speak to the manager and was told that it was a regional decision based on sales. I certainly shared my strong sentiments that this was a poor decision on their part but was told that it had to do with the economic reality of the store and their need to limit inventory. It was a decision based on numbers from what I could gather.
I am interested to know if this is just a regional decision or if this is impacting B&N’s nationally. In our region, this is the primary bookstore thus this is a real problem especially (as you’ve been discussing) given that the pregnancy books have very little on PPD at all.
I’ll be phoning the store tomorrow to follow up with the email you sent me. Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.
At my local library, we only have one…ONE book on PPD. The day I went to take it out, it was already gone.
Lauren, if you swing by my site, I gave you an award!!