As my regular readers know, I typically do not post anything beyond my Friday Soother on Fridays.
But this important and I know you will want to watch it.
The video is 33 minutes long but OH SO WORTH IT.
What a wonderful celebration!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oosq2oQuzA]
Today, at 1130 a.m. EST, a gathering will take place. A gathering that has been years in the making, has had some of the most amazing and dedicated supporters I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, and a gathering that celebrates the thousands and possibly millions of lives which will be saved in the years to come.
Senator Menendez, Rep. Bobby Rush, Carol Blocker, Susan Dowd Stone, Katherine Stone, Sylvia Lasalandra, and several other advocates are gathering on Capitol Hill to celebrate the enactment of the MOTHER’S Act. This is a momentous day indeed.
This past year I spearheaded a blog event to help increase grassroots support of this bill. Several other women also worked diligently to increase support and gather signatures for a petition which was presented to Senators in support of this bill. It was not an easy task. We had opposition. Opposition which attacked us like nothing I’ve ever experienced. They said things about us that simply were not true in an attempt to bring us down and decrease our support for the bill. But it didn’t work. We persevered through their words, through their hatred, through their guilt-ridden tactics. Was it easy? Heck no. But we kept on in the trenches because we had truly been IN the trenches fighting off our own battles with Postpartum Mood Disorders before our births as advocates. We knew what it was like to be tragically alone in that cold, damp place. And we were gonna be damned if we let that continue to be the norm.
Along the way, we proved our compassion for all new moms. We provided resources and supported them as they cried out for help in the darkness of their battle with Postpartum Mood Disorder instead of attacking them for choosing to use certain therapies available to them.We lifted women and families up with love, warmth, and cherished each one of their experiences. We cried with them, laughed with them, celebrated victories and comforted in times of loss and grief. We were there.
We won a good fight.
And today?
Today’s just the icing on the cake – the party.
But beneath that icing, rest assured we will continue our hard work. We WILL be there for all those who contact us, who lean on us for support, for reassurance that yes, YOU too can beat this beast.
Today though, I’m giving you permission to have your cake and eat it too. We’ve damn well earned it.
Designating May as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month
ACR 105 – Designating May as “Perinatal Depression Awareness Month” in California Passes Assembly and Senate.
Junior Leagues’ Support Across the State Seen As Critical on Key Women’s Health Issue.
Sacramento, Calif. – April 22, 2010 – The Junior Leagues of California’s State Public Affairs Committee (SPAC), working with Assembly Member Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara), sponsored Assembly Concurrent Resolution 105 (ACR 105) to designate each May as “Perinatal Depression Awareness Month” in California. The bill received tremendous bi-partisan support and has passed both the Assembly and Senate.
“This legislation addresses a significant women’s health and public awareness problem,” said Assembly Member Nava. “It comes after 18 months of advocacy work by SPAC and individual Junior Leagues in California. By naming the month of May ‘Perinatal Depression Awareness’ Month, I hope to facilitate public discussion, increased awareness and access for women and their families to important healthcare services. The Junior Leagues’ support was critical, and I thank the leaders of SPAC for their time and energy in bringing this often misunderstood issue to a wider audience.”
National studies estimate 1 in 5 women suffer from postpartum depression and related disorders — 80% of whom go undiagnosed and untreated because they are uninsured, underinsured, or lack access to comprehensive health care. There may be as many as 800,000 new cases in the United States each year.
“Because many women are not adequately informed, screened or treated for Perinatal Depression, they and their infants and families suffer needlessly through this devastating medical condition,” said SPAC Co-Chair and Junior League of Los Angeles Member Julie Elginer. “Early diagnosis and treatment is critical, but that cannot happen unless women, their families and friends and clinicians and other professionals know the signs and symptoms of Perinatal Depression. Many states, including New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Iowa, have implemented robust educational campaigns and treatment programs. This is an important first step for California to increase awareness and reduce stigmas associated with this condition.”
As passed, ACR 105 will also request that the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Mental Health and other private stakeholders work together to explore ways to improve women’s access to mental health care, to facilitate increasing awareness of and education about Perinatal Depression and to encourage the use of available prenatal screening tools.
To lead off Perinatal Depression Awareness Month, SPAC is introducing a Perinatal Depression awareness campaign entitled “Speak Up When You’re Down.” Additionally, SPAC leadership and stakeholders from across California will be participating in a key opinion leader roundtable hosted by the California Research Bureau on May 3rd. On the same day, SPAC will be participating in a press conference in Sacramento with Assembly Member Nava at 11:00 a.m. Representatives from a broad-based coalition that has supported ACR 105, including the American Congress of Obstetricians Gynecologists, Postpartum Support International, the offices of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the Los Angeles County Perinatal Mental Health Taskforce will also be in attendance.
On May 4th, SPAC will testify on Perinatal Depression at the California Women’s Legislative Caucus informational hearing that will be held in conjunction with the Assembly Health and Senate Health Committees.
Assembly Member Nava applauded SPAC’s tireless advocacy efforts saying “It has been an honor to work with the Junior Leagues of California. The League’s thoughtful and energetic advocacy on many important issues has been invaluable for both their communities and all the people of California.”
About SPAC:
SPAC is the State Public Affairs Committee of the Junior Leagues of California, a non-partisan, volunteer organization representing 11,000 members throughout the state. Collectively, the Junior Leagues of California contribute over $1.2 M and tens of thousands of volunteer hours into their local communities each year. SPAC supports legislation in four focus areas: education, health, family support and domestic violence prevention. SPAC works with nearly one hundred community programs that assist women, children and families throughout the state. SPAC represents the Junior Leagues of Bakersfield, Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Monterey County, Napa-Sonoma, Oakland East Bay, Orange County, Palo Alto/Mid-Peninsula, Pasadena, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Barbara.
About the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. (AJLI):
Founded in 1901 by New Yorker and social activism pioneer, Mary Harriman, the Junior Leagues are charitable nonprofit organizations of women, developed as civic leaders, creating demonstrable community impact.
Today, The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. (AJLI) is comprised of more than 160,000 women in 293 Junior Leagues throughout Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. Together, they constitute one of the largest, most effective volunteer organizations in the world. For more information please visit www.ajli.org.
The study involved 30 women; 15 of whom were immediately postpartum and 15 who were not at all postpartum. All women underwent PET scans to measure MAO-A binding.
The findings are stunning.
Normal women who have just delivered a baby had 43% higher MAO-A levels than women who had not given birth.
Why is this stunning?
Well, it has to do with the role of MAO-A in the body. MAO-A is a protein which helps to remove chemicals from your body like serotonin which help you maintain a good mood. Elevated levels of MAO-A means that more serotonin is being cleaned out of your body, thus making you sadder. Wait, there’s a kicker. The highest MAO-A levels were recorded on Day 5 post-delivery, the most severe day of the baby blues.
Interestingly enough, MAO-A is also located in the placenta, in the Syncytiotrophoblast layer where moms and babies exchange nutrients.
While social struggles and lack of support may exacerbate the symptoms and increase the recovery from a Postpartum Mood Disorder, researchers like Dr. Jeffrey Meyer and Dr. Michael Silverman are peeling back more and more layers each and every day. They’re exploring deeper than ever before into a neurobiological basis of Postpartum Mood Disorders which may one day allow us to successfully avoid the experience all together. What a day that will be! Until then, we need to continue to provide non-judgmental and compassionate support for moms and families struggling with a Postpartum Mood Disorder. It’s through the careful marriage of research, social support and medical support that we will best reach recovery.
Additional Sources:
A lot of bloggers have been talking about mom guilt lately. I even threw my hat in the ring.
Anyone who has talked with me for any amount of time knows full well I am fully supportive of moms no matter what decisions they have made in their own lives. As mothers, it is part of our job to make the best decisions we are capable of making for our family. And we should absolutely not be judged for these decisions. It’s a shame that we have to put a disclaimer before discussing any aspect of motherhood for fear of offending a mother who may have made a different choice.
Growing up, I remember my mom nursing my brothers. Breastfeeding is how I was raised. I knew no different. For me, breastfeeding was akin to breathing. It was just something you did when you had a baby. When I got pregnant, I would breastfeed my daughter too. Failure never occurred to me as a possibility. The first full day after birth, she wouldn’t latch. We went home without having gotten it right. I gave formula the first night. I was failing. Scared, failing, what the hell? My mom had made everything look so easy. It was supposed to be easy! Why was I having such a hard time??? The next morning we got up and I was determined to get her to latch. She did and off we went into the breastfeeding sunset. 16 whole months of nursing with self-weaning two weeks before discovery of our second pregnancy. I had done it right! It had been one of the few things I had felt I had managed to get right about Motherhood.
Fast forward to 36 and a half weeks pregnant later. After a long labor, our second daughter was born. She too, would not latch. I thought her mouth didn’t look right but I was tired. Blamed it on the exhaustion. This time around I asked for an IBCLC. She immediately swept baby’s mouth with a gloved finger and diagnosed a cleft palate. My world turned upside down. I met a hospital grade pump that night. Barely got anything. Wondered why I was bothering to pump. But I kept with it, pumping at home, at the hospital, stashing breastmilk in the freezer, the fridge, feeding it to my daughter through her Kangaroo pump. Managed to keep it up for seven whole months before it came down to my daughter receiving breastmilk or my family and my mental health. I bought formula and cried the whole way home from the store. But that decision saved me, saved my relationship with my family. I was grateful formula existed.
A little over a year later would find me surprised and pregnant once again. I was scared. But I now knew formula was ok. I still tried to breastfeed. Our son latched on like a champ right after delivery. Nursed wonderfully, even through three bouts of thrush. But at 6 months, he was diagnosed as failure to thrive. He was born at 8lbs 15oz and had barely gained 3 lbs in the first six months of life. Our well-meaning pediatrician suggested I pump. I wanted to laugh. I was SO not going back down that road! After a day of contemplation, off I went to buy formula. He switched rather easily and was completely on formula by the end of the week, gaining weight, happy, not fussy, and we were all much healthier mentally as well.
There are women out there who will tell you that breastfeeding protects against depression because of the production of Oxytocin, the “cuddle” hormone. Then there are those who will tell you formula feeding will help you get more rest. So will pumping and having enough in the fridge/freezer for a bottle in the middle of the night. But then you risk not nursing at that time and killing your supply. But I say if you can do it and not risk your supply – go for it.
Bottom line here?
YOU have to do what is best for you. And if that means a balance of breastmilk and formula or only one or the other then SO be it. If someone giving baby a bottle of formula at night helps you sleep and recover, then go for it. If breastfeeding makes you smile and helps you feel like more of a mother, then so be it. No apologies, no looking back. Be bold, make the decision, and go with it. It is possible to continue to nurse with anti-depressants. If you choose to do so, make sure your prescribing doctor knows you are nursing and let your pediatrician know as well so both doctors can minimize any potential side effects. Ask questions. Get answers. Make an educated decision.
Now that I’ve stepped off my soap box, it’s your turn. Did your Postpartum Mood Disorder change your plans for feeding your infant? Did you give formula instead of nurse? Choose to nurse instead of formula to help ward off Postpartum Depression? Why? Would you do things any differently knowing what you know now? Why? Why not?Do you regret your decision?
Let’s get to Just Talkin’ Tuesday.