Great article in The Post and Courier today on PPD and highlighting the Moms’ Run: Postpartum Depression: Information, a supportive community critical to helping women

When Sarah Moore’s husband pointedly asked her if she was having thoughts of hurting herself or her 2-month-old daughter, Moore could only nod.

“If he hadn’t asked me that, I wouldn’t have told him,” the West Ashley mom says.

Moore was trapped in a guilty spiral of worrisome thoughts that are common among women with postpartum depression, according to experts.

“I was super anxious. I would wake up in the morning with a knot in my stomach thinking about having to get through the day with her,” Moore says. “It’s not at all what I pictured it to be. I felt so guilty about that.”

While Moore felt she was the only woman to ever feel that way, an average of 15 percent of new moms experienced symptoms of postpartum depression between 2004 and ’08, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read the full story.

Holly Ortlund

We are so excited to welcome Holly Ortlund to the Moms’ Run this year as a guest runner. Holly is also going to be conducting a runners’ clinic on the topic of energy gels.

Runners’ Clinic: Selecting the Right Energy Gels

6-7 p.m. Friday, May 11 at TrySports, 1903 Highway 17 North in Mount Pleasant

This free clinic is being held in conjunction with race packet pickup for the ninth annual Moms’ Run May 12 on Daniel Island.

Speaker: Holly Ortlund of EnergyGelCentral.com, a website that provides reviews, comparisons and information on energy gels. Ortlund has degrees in exercise physiology and biology. She spent eight years as the director of research and development for a small sports nutrition startup where she formulated the gels and flavors.

Ortlund, who lives in Decatur, Ga., runs about 40 miles a week and competes in races once or twice a month. In 2011, she placed first overall in the Georgia State Trail Running Championships, Big Peach 5K, Heart & Soles 5K and the Cantrell Center 5K. She also placed first with a time of 17:59 in the 2010 Atlanta Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon & 5K.

We are one month away from the ninth annual Moms’ Run and we are getting excited. We have some amazing sponsors this year: Trident Health, Deplin and Dr. Randy Pediatric Dentist. Look for these posters around town and get signed up!

Check out this great post from our supporter and friend Angie Mizzell about shattering parenting taboos.

I’m that person who delivers a baby and falls instantly in love. I’m like, “Hello there. So you’re the one who’s been turning somersaults in my belly. I had a feeling it was you.” About a week before I gave birth to my third child, I had a dream where I saw her. She looked a bit like E.T. and had a birthmark on her left eyelid. I was delighted when my daughter was born NOT looking like E.T., but I wasn’t surprised when I noticed the birthmark exactly where I dreamed it would be. Read more … 

Ellen Story, a Democratic state representative from Amherst, Mass., is working on a state bill that addresses postpartum depression. Through her research and meetings with leaders in women’s health, Story found that all new mothers to be screened for PPD. While she received strong support and the legislation passed in 2010, it has hit some roadblocks along the way:

As the bill made its way through the legislative process, however, it was changed. The heart of the bill, universal screening, raised concerns for insurers and doctors. And funds for the bill’s other provisions, such as public education, were nearly nonexistent. Fortunately, the law that passed does take important steps forward. It calls on the state Department of Public Health, a strong partner throughout the process, to issue regulations on best practices and data collection for screening. They are making excellent progress.

The law also created a diverse 34-person Commission, including health care providers, insurance representatives, survivors, legislators and state agency representatives, and many others, charged with advancing best practices in screening, referrals, treatment, and public and professional education.

Story is co-chairing this commission and we are eager to see the results. While mandatory screening might not have made it to the final legislation, we applaud the progress that is being made and give a big thanks to Story for tackling this important issue.

Read Story’s piece on this topic in the Boston Globe.

Here’s a great post from PostpartumProgress.com with ideas for moms who need some child care resources. Taking a break can be so critical for moms going through PPD.

A mother may be in crisis for all sorts of reasons, whether it’s postpartum depression, a debilitating illness, economic turmoil, problems of addiction or abuse, or something else. Whatever the reason, it’s so important for them to feel they have a safe place for their children to go, whether it’s for a few hours or a few days. For many of these women, lack of childcare is a major barrier to getting help.

Take a look at this list and let us know what other ideas you might suggest.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Violent deaths are outpacing traditional causes of maternal mortality, such as hemorrhage and preeclampsia, and conflicts with intimate partner are often a factor, researchers report.

“We found that the mortality rate from homicide and suicide were more common than what we think of as traditional causes of maternal mortality,” said Dr. Christie L. Palladino, an obstetrician-gynecologist and educational researcher at Georgia Health Sciences University. “It’s not what you want to read, but it’s the reality.”

The analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Violent Death Reporting System, a surveillance system from 17 states, found 94 pregnancy-associated suicides and 139 homicides from 2003-07. Overall, 64.4 percent of pregnancy-associated violent deaths – classified by the CDC as death during pregnancy and the following year – occurred during pregnancy. The mortality rate was 4.9 per 100,000 live births.

The findings, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, are a wakeup call for health care providers and families alike about the need for mental health awareness and treatment at a time typically associated with great joy, said Palladino who is working to enhance training of obstetrician-gynecologists in depression diagnosis and treatment.

Read the full story from Georgia Health Sciences University.

Moving Into Motherhood will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27 at the Center for Women, 129 Cannon St. in downtown Charleston. Parking is available in the lot at 30 Bee St., directly behind the Center for Women office building.

Hosted by the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation, Moving Into Motherhood offers support and education for new moms as well as chance for moms to simply connect with other women going through the same life-changing experience of motherhood. It meets the second and fourth Thursdays of the month.

The speaker is Stacey Crew, author and organizing expert. A mother of two, Crew regularly speaks about home and office organization. Her book, “The Organized Mom,” is a step-by-step guide for new moms needing to figure out what do with all the “stuff” that comes with a new baby.

The group is free but donations to the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation are welcomed and appreciated. For questions or to RSVP, please contact Holly Fisher at 843-991-1689.

If we believe the books, movies and websites, babies are all swaddled bundles of joy leaving new moms swooning. But new moms know after the swooning, there’s the lack of sleep, showers and sanity. No full-time job is as demanding as caring for a newborn, especially if it’s the first one. Moms have tons of questions about their babies and themselves. That’s where Moving into Motherhood can help.

Hosted by the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation, Moving into Motherhood offers support and education for new moms as well as chance for moms to simply connect with other women going through the same life-changing experience of motherhood.

The group meets from 5:30-7 p.m. the second and fourth Thursdays at the Center for Women, 129 Cannon St. in downtown Charleston. The kick off meeting is Thursday, Oct. 13. Parking is available in the lot at 30 Bee St., directly behind the Center for Women office building.

The group is free but donations to the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation are welcomed and appreciated. For questions or to RSVP, please contact Holly Fisher at hollyannfisher@gmail.com or 843-991-1689.

In addition to education and outreach, our Foundation exists to help women struggling with PPD – plain and simple. We host support groups twice a month and give grants to women who can’t otherwise afford medical treatment for PPD. This woman recently received a grant and we sent us this note:

Thank you so much for all the help you have given me. My entire family thanks you because they feel they got the wife/mom/sister/daughter back that went away for some time. May God bless you & the Ruth Craven Foundation.

And that’s exactly why we do what we do.