A Mother’s Voice: MOTHERS Act
August 2007 was brutally hot to me, then again I was 9 months pregnant with my daughter. During the previous nine months everything was filled with all the hopes, dreams and excitement that usually comes with the pending new arrival of a child. I could wait to meet this little thing that had grown in me during this time, feeling as if anything could be handled easily and quickly. Without so much as a batting of an eyelash, my professions over how easy everything would be came out with me really believing it all.
After her birth however, the heat was barely noticeable. Honestly, if I did even notice it at all, it was soon lost from memory. Only to be replaced with one thousand little things that I now thought was pressing and urgent. Most of which were simply silly worries and fears that new parenthood brought.
Looking back, I was very honestly a hormonal wreck. During the first month, I think I just sat, cuddled my daughter and cried more than anything else. Hormones played a huge part, thankfully as much of an emotional train wreck that my new motherhood brought me, I didn’t have postpartum depression.
What if however, it didn’t ‘clear up’ but instead had lingered and was worse? Truthfully, I’ve found myself wondering if anyone would have seen it, or noticed that it was more than new mom worries.
Postpartum depression and psychosis is a serious condition. It can hit any woman, especially those who have either a history of depression themselves or in their families. The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS act serves to protect those who may suffer from this. They would hopefully include routine screenings for pregnant women, and assess their risk in developing something far worse than ‘the baby blues’.
Relevant Reading:
The Story Behind the Legislation:
Melanie’s Battle:
The Hidden Plague of Postpartum Psychosis and Depression
The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act
No related posts.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
