Maternal Mental Health Week in Georgia

During pregnancy and just after delivering their baby, a mother assumes she will be filled with joy and love for her newborn, but it doesn’t always work out that way, and instead, she may be feeling worthless, depressed, and even lose interest in her baby and other significant parts of her life.

That’s what perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) can do.

According to Mental Health America, they are the most common complication of childbirth.

In the United States, between 10% and 15% of new mothers suffer from these devastating illnesses which, if not properly treated, can have a long-term negative impact on the health of the mothers, children and families.

In Georgia alone, more than 30,000 pregnant and postpartum women are likely to experience PMAD.

Mental Health America of Georgia’s Project Healthy Moms and the newly formed Georgia Coalition on Maternal Mental Health are drawing attention to this issue, ultimately convincing Governor Nathan Deal to declare February 3-9, 2013,  as Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week throughout Georgia.

Several activities are planned to help promote maternal mental health, along with the well-being of children and families:

• Feb 6th, 3pm, Georgia Capitol: help advocate for maternal mental health! The event will be held at the Coverdell Legislative Office Building room 606, 18 Capitol Square SW, Atlanta, GA, 30334.

• February 7th from 11am-2pm,Northside Hospital’s cafeteria–Learn about maternal mental health and get more information about perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), as well as information about local resources.
• The Project Healthy Moms Warmline, which provides peer support for women who may be experiencing PMADs, will be offered in Spanish starting February 1st.
• County health departments and home visiting programs throughout Georgia will be receiving e-toolkits with information about screening and resources supporting maternal mental health.
• MHA is partnering with the March of Dimes NICU program to provide new mothers with information about local mental health resources.
• The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies February newsletter will feature an article about maternal mental health written by the Project Healthy Moms Program Manager.

Please contact Liz Smulian (liz@mhageorgia.org ) for more information about Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, and visit their website to learn more about Project Healthy Moms and resources for healthcare providers and pregnant and postpartum women. By all means, meet us at the capitol.