The following is a message from the Hurley Foundation:
The March of Dimes has awarded $25,000 to the Hurley Foundation to expand a Hurley pilot support group program for women suffering from postpartum depression (PPD).
Before the program at Hurley Medical Center, the closest hospital to offer PPD support groups was at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. Through grant support, PPD support groups facilitated by a licensed psychologist are now held at Hurley Medical Center every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m..
“This grant will enable us to serve pregnant and postpartum (up to a year after giving birth) women throughout Genesee and surrounding counties in mid-Michigan who desperately need information and assistance for PPD at this crucial time – not only in their own lives, but in the lives of their newborns and families,” said Renay Gagleard, MSN, RN, BC, Administrator, Women and Children Services, at Hurley Medical Center.
PPD describes a maternal mood disorder that occurs in one in every four or five new mothers anytime during the first year after childbirth. Women are more likely to suffer from mood and anxiety disorders following childbirth than at any other time in their lives. The condition is treatable, yet many women suffer in silence or are misdiagnosed. In fact, studies show 50 percent of all cases of PPD still go undetected.
New mothers with these mood disorders can experience debilitating symptoms that can affect their ability to care for themselves and their new baby. Common manifestations of PPD include extreme anxiety and panic attacks, consistent depressed mood, obsessive thinking, compulsive actions, inability to sleep and eat, and generalized unhappiness. Other warning signs can include irritability, expressing feelings of hopelessness or inadequacy, fear of being alone, overwhelmed, and loss of normal interests.
Women suffering from PPD also can have extreme bizarre or strange thoughts, hallucinations, or even thoughts of suicide. If PPD is left untreated, child abuse and neglect, altered mother-infant bonding, adult relationship stress and divorce, infant behavior and cognitive problems, and suicide and/or infanticide can occur.
Support groups for women with PPD can significantly reduce the feelings of isolation and loneliness, common in depression. For more information prior to attending a PPD support group at Hurley, call 810-424-6873.
Hurley Medical Center is the region’s premier public hospital with Genesee County’s only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the only regional Maternal Fetal Medicine Department.
The March of Dimes is the leading organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.
