Tucson Postpartum Depression Coalition

 

An elementary school teacher, devoted wife, and proud mother of 2 young children, silenced and stunned her audience as she told her story of near death, and her ultimate struggle out of a life-altering postpartum depression. “If this could happen to me,” she reflected, “then there must be countless other women with fewer resources in place than I had available. These resources could help them identify that something is very wrong, and to get the help that I eventually found. Why didn’t someone warn me?” 

With the encouragement of her adoring husband, a beauty pageant became the chosen vehicle for ‘getting the word out.’ With the Mrs. Arizona pageant as a platform to expose the issues surrounding postpartum depression and associated complications before and after the birth of her child, she became a standard bearer for mothers in Arizona. She urged physicians to educate their pregnant clients, speaking at legislative hearings, addressing both mothers and professionals in education programs by telling her story. With the hope that she could prevent at least ONE mother from the extreme hopelessness and sleep deprivation that led her to contemplate suicide as she succumbed to the dark months of postpartum depression, she addressed thousands of Arizonans and transformed herself from victim to survivor to advocate. Sharing a very personal story in a very public way, she recalled months of helplessness and the grace of her mother and husband who became aware that her experience was not normal.

What happened to her is not isolated or rare. Thousands of women in Tucson suffer similar circumstances.  Prior to TPDC’s founding, there were virtually no programs in place to raise awareness, educate or treat pregnancy and postpartum depression. Initially through community workshops, TPDC volunteers educated both mothers and professionals working with pregnant and postpartum women to create avenues of support, identification and treatment for affected families.

The movement got started too late for an AZ inmate residing in a female prison complex near Phoenix.  Her undiagnosed postpartum psychosis resulted in a sentence of 40 years for child abuse. While she had a host of risk factors that would lead to perinatal anxiety and depression, she was not diagnosed or treated.  Left alone with her infant without social or emotional support, she lapsed into a temporary insanity that led to a horrific outcome that could have been prevented.

The fact is that childbirth is not always the universally joyous event presented by common wisdom, or fostered by the myths of motherhood. Some 20% of mothers face depression, anxiety, and/or other emotional health concerns during pregnancy or postpartum. Both moms and their precious babies have come to physical harm, even death, while laboring under the effects of severe depression. 

Tucson Postpartum Depression Coaliton (TPDC) works to make the Tucson community a safe and understanding place for families facing the challenges of pregnancy and postpartum depression and anxiety. TPDC educates physicians and other care providers, provides support and information to families, and advocates for the best possible care for Southern Arizona's families.