Postpartum Depression Alliance of Illinois
PPDIL HELPLINE: 847-205-4455
3400 Dundee #245, Northbrook, IL 60062
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Postpartum Depression
in the News
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-x-melanies-law-0521-20100521,0,3677856.story
Northbrook Star, May 4, 2010
Greenbriar parent a pro at postpartum concerns
May 4, 2010By KARIE ANGELL LUC Contributor
For more than a decade, Greenbriar School parents have come to know Sarah Weller as a Northbrook volunteer and mom of three with that cool British accent.
But did they also know she is Dr. Sarah Allen, clinical psychologist?
It may be also rare learning of a neighbor having direct access to the Illinois governor's office. Allen convinced Gov. Pat Quinn to designate May as Postpartum Mood Disorders Awareness Month. In a press release, she is quoted as chairman of IL PPD Alliance, which helps mothers overcome postpartum depression. Allen began the alliance after relocating in 1997 from Portsmouth, England.
"When I came here 13 years ago, it (PPD) wasn't widely recognized so I set up a state-wide non-profit organization that has a helpline and Web site to help women and their families find resources to help them," Allen said, referring to www.ppdil.org. "The U.K. was much further ahead in the recognition and treatment of PPD and when I came to the United States, I was shocked how little awareness and resources there were here for moms with PPD.
"I went to the Postpartum Support International (PSI) conference that year (1998) to meet other professionals in the U.SA. that shared my interest and because of the extent of my knowledge came back as the PSI leader for Illinois," said Allen, whose family became U.S. citizens in 2008.
Wearing several hats is typical for Allen although she owns no Mother's Day bonnet.
"Mother's Day is a recognition of how all year round moms are looking after everyone else in the family -- it's a day to relax and also to think about my own mother and all she did for me," Allen said.
She and her husband, Mel Weller, a Chicago financial software analyst, are parents to three sons. The two youngest, Michael and Thomas, are twins and also Greenbriar School fifth-graders. Their oldest son Jamie, a 2009 Glenbrook North High School graduate, is a University of Illinois sophomore returning home for the summer this Mother's Day weekend.
"It is also his birthday a couple of days before so I expect we will have a nice meal out to celebrate," she said, referring to Jamie. "Hopefully I'll get breakfast in bed too," Allen added.
Well-deserved breaks are appreciated as Allen will likely spend part of Mother's Day weekend preparing for next Wednesday's workshop in her Dundee Road Northbrook office.
The May 12 free workshop from 6:30-8 p.m. is called "The Path to Postpartum Emotional Wellness." Allen welcomes new and expectant mothers.
"At least 20 percent of moms experience perinatal mood disorders and by increasing awareness of how common and easily treated it is, women can know that they are not alone," Allen said.
"When a mom experiences pregnancy or postpartum depression or anxiety, it not only negatively impacts her quality of life but can also impact bonding and can predispose the child to depression in later life," she said.
"I feel very strongly that treatment should be readily available to every mom who needs it and the sooner she receives treatment, the sooner she can forge a secure attachment with her infant and counteract any negative effects her illness may have had," she added.
One patient success story is Katie Axford Ford, a Lake Forest mother of four to Ellie, 6, Harry, 4, Maisy, 3, and Buck, who just celebrated his first birthday.
"Katie had extreme postpartum OCD where she obsessed that somehow she would harm her baby and each day was very hard for her to get though," Allen said. "Helping her normalize her experience and reassure her that OCD can affect 5 percent of postpartum moms and having these thoughts didn't mean she would actually hurt the baby."
Ford is now a PPD IL Alliance volunteer and is often on the other end of the line when callers phone the helpline.
"The IL PPD Alliance relies solely on donation and is run entirely by volunteers and without them it just wouldn't exist," Allen said.
To think -- a helpline run by moms and volunteers for moms who become volunteers. A Mother's Day gift in itself.
To register for Allen's workshop, call (847) 791-7722 or email sarahfcallen@comcast.net, or visitwww.drsarahallen.com and www.ppdil.org.
Chicago Tribune, Feb 12, 2010
Few new moms seek postpartum help, though many should
by blues' may be a red flag for a deeper problem
February 12, 2010|By Alexa AguilarIt's noon and I'm still in my pajamas, hoping that neither baby will wake up before I finish writing. The house is a mess, the to-do list stretches long. Leaving the house is impossible with the air so frigid.
I'm a little weepy these days, no doubt because it's been a month since I've slept longer than a three-hour stretch. The reason — a daughter born on Dec. 31. She joins a 20-month-old brother and a 12-year-old sister.
Becoming a mom, first-time or otherwise, can wreak havoc on your lifestyle, your home, your relationships and your identity. It's no wonder that for many women, the change doesn't automatically translate to hours blissfully gazing at your newborn.
I'm not talking the "baby blues," the two-week period after birth when many exhausted moms feel sad and teary. No, for some new mothers it's something deeper and lingering — postpartum depression and anxiety.
Help is available. Hospitals and doctors are much more likely than before to recognize the problems and offer resources, but not enough moms are reaching out to them.
Sarah Allen, a clinical psychologist and chair of Postpartum Depression Alliance of Illinois, was shocked when she came to the United States from England 13 years ago and saw how little attention postpartum depression received. There are headline-grabbing cases — such as Melanie Blocker Stokes, who jumped from a building in 2001 after her baby was born. And while they generate awareness, Allen worries that they also cultivate fear among women who think that their anxiety and depression will lead to psychosis, which is extremely rare.
Allen wants preventative screening, so an at-risk woman can line up help before her baby arrives. Risk factors include a history of depression or anxiety or suffering from premenstrual syndrome.
Pauline Gekas, a marriage and family therapist, leads a postpartum support group for TriCity Family Services in Geneva. She says it helps to be among others who are struggling rather than at a playgroup or other setting where moms seemingly are dealing with motherhood with aplomb.
Some new moms struggle with loneliness and a new identity, she says. Others feel marooned in their house, missing their families, their old friends, their former co-workers. Others are perfectionists who don't understand what happened to their orderly life.
Though experts estimate that 20 percent of women suffer from postpartum depression or anxiety, Gekas' group usually numbers around five women. Do the math — many women are suffering alone.
I've been thinking a lot about my fellow new mothers. At the hospital, we were all handed information about the warning signs of postpartum depression or anxiety. But on cloudy, snowy days, when my newborn wails and my toddler acts stir-crazy, and another day passes where I was too tired to talk to my husband, I wonder how they're faring.
I hope that they have a friend to bring by a meal, a relative they can chat with by phone and a partner who watches the baby while they go for a walk or grab a cup of coffee, alone.
And I hope they consider a group like Gekas', which meets weekly, or go online to a group such as www.ppdsupportpage.com.
There, some women who've come through the tough early days, post about the sadness and guilt they felt over not enjoying their babies. Others are still in the grips, such as one mom who posted, "I'm so tired of being sick. I'm praying so hard for strength. I just feel so alone. So pathetic. I don't want to do this anymore."
Life doesn't have to feel like that. It's better to get help, and soon.
Alexa Aguilar is a freelance reporter.
*****
SunTimes May 1, 2009
Debra Gindorf Receives Clemency From Governor Quinn..more
*****
Illinois Times on May 22, 2003
Postpartum psychosis more than baby blues
BY JENNIFER MCGILVRAY
Medill News Service
The first time Cynthia Collado connected with her baby,
Dominic, wasn't the first time she laid eyes on her son, but two months
after he was born.
She was suffering from postpartum psychosis and had just returned from a
support group meeting with other women who were also suffering from the more
severe form of "baby blues."
"He was smiling and that made me feel good," she said.
Cynthia is recovering from postpartum psychosis through therapy and
medication after the birth of her first child.
"It's been since last summer since I had feelings of hurting my baby," she
said. One of the ways the illness affected her is that it made her
over-concerned that she would do something wrong that would hurt her infant.
Cynthia is not alone--as she found out after being diagnosed as postpartum
psychosis/bipolar. She is part of 1 percent of all new mothers suffering
from an extreme form of postpartum depression, which itself affects 20
percent of women.
The Postpartum Depression Illinois Alliance lists postpartum depression
symptoms as despondency, tearfulness, intense feelings of inadequacy, guilt
and fatigue. Postpartum psychosis has symptoms such as auditory
hallucinations, hyperactivity and delusions.
When Cynthia and her husband first brought their son home, she said she was
doing fine with him.
"I wanted to do everything for him," she said. "Maybe a little too much."
Cynthia said she was obsessing over his safety. "I went around the house and
labeled everything just in case he digested something. And he couldn't even
walk yet." Her condition got worse after she started hearing things that
didn't exist and then she became delusional.
"I was thinking that everyone was out to get the baby. I went to go hold the
baby and I was too exaggerated (in my actions) and my husband was a little
worried. He took the baby away from me and called 911," she said. "911 came
and I thought they were the bad people."
She was immediately diagnosed by doctors and put on medication. When her
family brought her son to visit, she said she had feelings of hurting the
baby.
"I thought I was going to drop the baby," she said.
Cynthia said she went into a deep depression after her prescription of
Prozac didn't work and she had to have her family watch her and the baby 24
hours a day.
"Taking a shower was hard to do," she said. After reading a book about
postpartum depression, Cynthia researched organizations to help her deal
with her problem. This led her to support groups, a qualified psychiatrist
and, finally, discovering she was not alone.
Sarah Allen, a psychologist who is director of the Postpartum Depression
Illinois Alliance, said awareness and education of postpartum depression
would help eliminate a lot of women's suffering. She said women don't want
to talk about their experiences because others will think they are bad
mothers.
"With motherhood, you're supposed to look at your baby and bond," she said.
"But it doesn't happen with everyone."
Allen said hospitals need to have programs that will screen mothers who are
at risk for postpartum depression and offer information about where to find
help if symptoms persist. Hospitals need to look for a history of personal
or family depression, hormonal and life changes. Allen said if a woman is
stressed out, "this will put you over the top."
Two recent examples of this that received nationwide attention both occurred
in Texas. In the more recent case, a woman, Deanna LaJune Laney, said God
told her to kill her two young sons. The boys, ages 8 and 6, had their heads
bashed in with rocks. Her third child, an 14-month-old boy, was found bloody
in his crib and was hospitalized. In the other case, Andrea Yates drowned
her five children one by one. She is serving a life term in prison for the
crimes; her plea of innocent by reason of insanity was rejected.
A new bill has been introduced in Congress to help combat this problem by
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush. Named after a woman in Chicago who jumped to her death
from a 12-story building, the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression
Research and Care Act will reallocate money from the National Institutes for
Health for research and education. Allen said hospitals need programs to
help women adjust to motherhood and educate doctors to look out for
high-risk patients.
Northwest suburban Alexian Brothers Medical Center, St. Alexius Medical
Center and Alexian Brothers Behavior Health Hospital are the only places
women can go for postpartum depression prevention and programming, according
to Leslie Lowell-Stoutenburg, director of the program. Women experiencing
symptoms can attend the support group, get specific education and get
referrals to mental health professionals. Alexian Brothers even offers
information for fathers as their new role develops.
Elizabeth Vorne, who suffered from postpartum depression, used to dread
waking up in the morning and taking care of her children. After getting
treatment at a hospital for five days, Elizabeth turned to Alexian Brothers
to cope with her depression. She said a bill to require hospitals to screen
for postpartum depression and offer information about available support
programs would have really helped her.
"I was being treated for general depression, but postpartum depression is so
different," she said.
Cynthia attended the same support group and said it gave her hope to see
other women recovering. "Because when I was in it, I didn't think I was
going to get any better."
Allen said money is a main factor holding back women from getting help.
Elizabeth paid for her treatment out of pocket. "For someone who couldn't
(afford it), I couldn't imagine," she said.
Cynthia didn't even know about postpartum depression. She said if she would
have taken some sort of prenatal class, she would have been prepared. She
decided not to enroll in a class because it was too expensive.
"Looking back at it, it would have been so much better to just go through
it," Cynthia said.
Both Cynthia and Elizabeth are doing fine now. However, Cynthia said Dominic
will be her last child.
"I don't want something that happened to Andrea Yates to happen to me," she
said. "I don't want to go through the feelings of hurting my baby again."
Locate the article here
Sun Times, May 20th, 2003
Click here to read the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act
Psychologists lend their expertise to advocacy efforts
Print
version: page 17 - Volume 34, No.
7 July/August 2003
Source: http://www.apa.org/monitor/expertise.html
APA members did their part to promote research funding and inform the policy-making process in May and June on Capitol Hill and at a Chicago press briefing:
Georgetown University psychologist Darlene Howard, PhD, testified for APA in support of increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) before the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee on May 14. Howard used her own NIH-funded research on implicit learning in aging adults to illustrate how such research is increasing knowledge of how to age successfully.
On May 15th, Steve Sellman, PhD, presented APA testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense on the contributions Department of Defense-funded psychologists make to national security. Sellman, who has more than 40 years of experience in military personnel management and research, warned against budget cuts that would eliminate funding for critical military research areas, including the need to understand and optimize cognitive functioning, perceptual awareness, complex decision-making, stress resilience and human-systems interactions.
Sellman is vice president and director for public policy issues at the Human Resources Research Organization in Alexandria, Va., and former director for accession policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Postpartum depression expert Susan Benjamin Feingold, PsyD, stressed the importance of more research on postpartum depression at a Chicago news conference sponsored by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), APA and the Postpartum Depression Illinois Alliance in support of the Melanie Blocker-Stokes Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act on May 19.
The bill, written by Rush, directs the National Institute of Mental Health to expand and intensify research on the causes of postpartum depression and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide grants to increase services for the diagnosis and treatment of postpartum depression. The bill is named for Chicago native Melanie Blocker-Stokes, who had postpartum psychosis and recently committed suicide.
Feingold, an executive board member of the nonprofit organization Depression After Delivery, specializes in its treatment as a private practitioner in Highland Park, Ill., and offers free support groups for women with postpartum depression.
Michael Cohen, PhD, presented his research findings on national events, trauma and America's schoolchildren on Capitol Hill on June 11. At a briefing co-sponsored by APA and the College Board, Cohen discussed the traumatic effects of Sept. 11, 2001, the war in Iraq and last fall's Washington, D.C.-area sniper attacks--particularly how they affect students' postsecondary decisions. Cohen also reported on other types of chronic stress faced by children.
Cohen, a New York City-based developmental psychologist, clinician and consultant, joined the city's crisis response team after Sept. 11. In that role, he advised Mayor Rudolph Guiliani and the city's Department of Education on the effects of trauma, and created related materials to help teachers and parents talk with children about the events.
--COMPILED BY J. CHAMBERLIN
FIGHTING POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION
'There is hope': Women overcome illness to thrive
Tribune staff reporter
February 17, 2003
It feels like trudging through mud. Or hearing a freight
train running through your brain. Or being locked outside your own soul.
This is how women who have suffered through postpartum mood disorders
describe them. They thought they would never free themselves from the pain
and disorientation of their illnesses. Yet most women do recover.
In the year following the birth of her daughter in 1992,
Diana Lynn Barnes, a therapist in Los Angeles, was hospitalized four times
for depression. "The pain comes in giant waves," she wrote once in her
journal during that period.
"My chest hurts--it burns around my heart. ... I'm struggling to stay above
this pain and I'm losing the battle."
Barnes did not lose the battle. After three years of relapses, she found a
slow path to recovery. Now, she is president of Postpartum Support
International, a California-based advocacy group, and she focuses her
practice on women with postpartum mood disorders.
"Women have a tremendous amount of fear they won't get well," Barnes says.
"But this is treatable."
The first--and often, the largest--hurdle is identifying the illness,
experts say. Because women in the United States are not routinely screened
for signs of depression and other mood disorders during or after their
pregnancies, many suffer without knowing what is wrong.
Amy Friedman, a human resources manager in Highland Park, struggled with
postpartum depression for three years after giving birth to her daughter in
1998. When she wasn't caring for her child, she mostly slept or cried.
Friedman, now 29, had suffered a depression during college, making her a
prime candidate for a recurrence following childbirth, but no one told her
she was vulnerable and she never connected the experiences.
"None of my doctors asked me how I was," says Friedman. "And I didn't want
to bring it up because I didn't want anyone to think I was a bad mother."
Eventually, Friedman says, her husband suggested she see a psychiatrist.
After trying three different antidepressants over a period of six weeks, she
found a medication that worked.
"Before the medication, I felt like I was walking around dazed and lost,"
says Friedman, who also received therapy. "Afterwards, life became clear and
understandable.
Ideally, treatment should involve a combination of medication, therapy and
social support, experts say. The support of others who have had similar
experiences may be one of the most underrated and cost-effective elements of
treatment, some practitioners say.
"I see women helping other women," says Leslie Lowell-Stoutenburg, who runs
support groups as part of the pregnancy and postpartum mood and anxiety
disorder program she directs at Alexian Brothers Hospital Network in Elk
Grove Village. "Women who get well come back to say there is hope."
Barnes can't pinpoint what prompted her turnaround. She credits a doctor
who, she feels, finally understood her illness--and her own will to live.
"I knew I was dying," she says, "and I knew I didn't want to."
Copyright © 2003, Chicago
Tribune
Locate the story at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
contentDebra Gindorf Receives Clemency From Governor Quinn..more about clemency cases in ILGOVERNOR QUINN PROCLAIMS MAY 2010 POSTPARTUM MOOD DISORDERS AWARENESS MONTH IN ILLINOISFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE .. here |
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CONTACT
PPDIL HELPLINE: 847-205-4455
3400 Dundee Road, Ste 245, Northbrook IL 60062
Email: Dr. Sarah Allen
Copyright © 2003 Postpartum Depression Alliance of Illinois. All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer: Postpartum Depression Illinois Alliance (PPD IL) is not responsible for any individual member’s practice and is by no means recommending or endorsing any particular member on the list. PPD IL is merely providing a list of service providers and resources available in Illinois. Design and Maintenance by www.websitesbyKIM.com
Last updated:
04/25/09