“About one in five of every woman who gives birth will experience a perinatal mood disorder like postpartum depression or anxiety.”
That’s Carrie Kolehouse, the executive director of MomsBloom. She says, after childbirth, some mothers may experience symptoms of excessive crying, tiredness and feelings of hopelessness, but often, they don’t know how to ask for help.
“Many women, because they’ve never gone through this experience before, they don’t know what’s happening. They don’t understand that this is a disease that they’re experiencing. There's lots of people living in our community who don't have much of a network to help them during that really challenging and vulnerable time."
To provide services to the entire family, volunteers can help mothers and newborns with such things as meal prep, soothing techniques and mentoring.
Those interested can attend a MomsBloom Volunteer Training event on Sep. 25 from 6 – 8 p.m. For more, information visit momsbloom.org.
Megan Sarnacki, WGVU News