Beyond 'Baby Blues': Shining the light on World Maternal Mental Health Day

by Victoria Sanchez

Wed, May 1, 2024 at 2:27 PM

Updated Fri, May 3, 2024 at 8:48 AM

Health and Wellness Reporter Victoria Sanchez speaks with Postpartum Support International's Director Wendy Davis, PhD, and Maryland mother of two Jennifer Davis about World Maternal Mental Health Day.

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WASHINGTON (7News) — One in five mothers experience some type of mental health disorder during or after pregnancy. The Postpartum Support International wants to identify the often-silent signs and share free resources for those suffering.

May 1 is World Maternal Mental Health Day. Postpartum depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and even psychosis can occur during pregnancy and up to a year after giving birth.

“Women who get postpartum depression or anxiety, they’re not sad because they have a baby, they have a baby and they’re sad, and they’re anxious," explained Wendy Davis, Director of Postpartum Support International.

According to the organization, hundreds of thousands of parents suffer because they don't know what they are going through is treatable and common.

“If you hear about it ahead of time, it’s almost like you’re going to move to a place that rains all the time. Let’s talk about the rain, let’s have an umbrella," Wendy told 7News Health and Wellness Reporter Victoria Sanchez.

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Jennifer Davis, an Olney, Maryland mother of two, said she was prepared for the physical changes to her body but not much more.

“There were not conversations about the emotional changes, and I don’t think it’s because anyone was keeping secrets, I think it’s really because there’s a lack of awareness. I feel like my mother probably suffered and she didn’t even know so she wouldn’t have had the tools to walk me and talk me through what could happen," she said.

Jennifer experienced extreme worries and fears for her infant daughter that made it hard to function. When she gave birth to her son, she became depressed. She found help with Postpartum Support International and is now the chapters and affiliates director of the group.

“What is the difference between just the ‘Baby Blues’ and where it gets significant, where you need to get some help?” Sanchez asked Wendy.

“When you’re feeling sad, anxious, distressed, your thoughts are confused, you’re having trouble sleeping or eating, and it lasts longer than two weeks, it’s getting in the way of just dealing with life, and people are noticing that you don’t seem like yourself – those are the things that you want to say, ‘I think something else is going on here,'" she explained.

If you need non-emergency help, you can contact Postpartum Support International: