Postpartum strategy to address gaps in mental health care

More help is on the way in northern Ontario for women and their familiesstruggling with postpartum mood disorders.

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The PostpartumMood Disorder Project, funded through grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the North East Local Health Integration Network, aimsto raise awareness aboutthe issue.

KaarinaRantais the program coordinator with the Northern Initiative for Social Action, orNISA,inSudbury. The group is working with counterparts across the north to help people who are struggling.

There's lot of pressure put on women that they will just know what to do when they have their babies.- KariinaRanta

Ranta saidpostpartum mood disordersaffect about onein fivewomen and she was one of them.

"I'm a woman with lived experience of postpartum depression," she said.

Ranta called on that experience to assess the resources available to people in Sudbury, and she said she found"gaps" in the system.

"We are one of the cities that did haveperinatal support. We have a program run through the hospital," Rantasaid.

"But, there were a lot of gaps in terms of peer support and service providers having education in the communities around what postpartum depression and postpartum mood disorders are."

Stigma still a barrier

Rantasaid one of the major barriers to appropriate mental health care after a child arrives continues to be stigma.

"There's a lot of societal pressure as well to be a caring mother, have a strong family,and there's lot of pressure put on women that they will just know what to do when they have their babies."

In Sudbury, Sault. Ste. Marie and ParrySound,Ranta said peer support groups have popped up thanks in part to the new initiative.

"Women [in the groups] are quite relievedto I think, number one be able to just have a safe space to talk about really the realities of what's going on," she said.

"[And] we've had feedback from moms that it's nice to see these other women."

Rantanoted that child-bearing women are not alone in reporting struggles after a baby arrives. She said onein 10men suffer from a postpartum mood disorder, and adoptive parents can also struggle with anxiety and depression.