Depression After Delivery (DAD) is a nonprofit, national postpartum depression education/support organization
The national referral and support organization Depression After Delivery is seeking donations and partnerships
July 12, 2004, Raritan, NJ—The organization known as D.A.D. is asking for
help.
Depression After Delivery Inc., a national nonprofit providing
support, education, and referral to families at risk during ante- and postpartum
depression and related illnesses, is seeking to strengthen partnerships and
collaborations so as to reach its 20th anniversary next year and
beyond.
Since its founding in 1985 by Nancy Berchtold, a Pennsylvania
woman who experienced postpartum complications, it has helped thousands of
families with ante- and postpartum depression/psychosis (PPD) that, if
unrecognized or inadequately treated, can result in tragic outcomes.
D.A.D. offers a toll-free line, 1-800-944-4PPD, for families and
professionals to obtain information. It offers parent packs with national
volunteer phone support network and support group listings, a national
professional referral registry, professional pack with screening tools as well
as publications and an educational video.
D.A.D. first received
attention more than a decade ago on the Phil Donahue show. Since then its
volunteer board members have appeared on Geraldo, Oprah, Oxegen, Lifetime and
other outlets as well as served as sources in Newsweek, Chicago Sun-Times,
Parent, American Baby, and other publications. Its board members have authored
books, journal articles, op-ed pieces, and other educational materials on the
subject and served as expert legal consultants.
D.A.D. responds to more
than 5,000 information/referral requests a year and has a family membership of
more than 500. Its Web site, www.depressionafterdelivery.com, is an information
clearinghouse for families and caregivers alike and receives more than 50,000
visitors a year.
Funding woes
Two years ago, two pharmaceutical
companies provided $75,000 for fundraising seed money. D.A.D. paid $60,000 of
those funds to a Florida fund development firm, which raised no funds. Currently
the organization is seeking collaborative partnerships in order to survive, says
Donna Cangialosi, the organization’s only paid staff and part-time
administrator. “We’ve invested so much in this organization it would be a shame
to simply lock the door and walk away,” she said.
Parents say the
organization’s mission is imperative. Katherine Stone, a D.A.D. member who wrote
a personal account of postpartum depression in the June 7, 2004 Newsweek,
agrees. “D.A.D. serves women all over the country by serving to provide sorely
needed information on the various postpartum disorders that exist,” says Stone
of Fayetteville, Ga.
“When I went to see a therapist in desperate need of
help, she told me about Depression After Delivery and thought I might find
comfort with this group. I think it is an extremely important organization, and
that every psychiatrist and obstetrician's office ought to know about it. The
idea that D.A.D. might go away because of lack of funding is simply
unacceptable.”
D.A.D. president Joyce Venis says the organization’s
mission is unique because it directly serves families. “I am greatly saddened by
D.A.D.’s current situation,” said Venis, a health care practitioner in
Princeton, N.J. “Having been with the organization for almost forever, I know
its importance. It is so difficult to have trusted supposed professionals to
raise funds for us who failed to do so. The money invested is a great loss, but
even more so is the faith we put in these people. It is unconscionable for those
of us who truly care.”
Serving a great need
Testimonials on D.A.D.’s
Web site, newsletter and news articles attest to the countless families who,
through adequate education, support and treatment, experience positive outcomes.
In worst cases severe PPD can be deadly—resulting in suicides and/or
infanticides that shake society’s soul.
In 2001, for example, five
Chicago-area women reportedly committed suicide from postpartum
depression/psychosis. One D.A.D. member, Carol Blocker, has led the fight to
recognize the deadly consequences of the illness. Her daughter, Melanie Stokes,
was a pharmaceutical sales manager and wife of a surgeon who leapt to her death
three months after the birth of her first child. The Melanie Stokes Postpartum
Depression Research and Care Act, introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill) (HR
846/S 450), has bipartisan support and awaits a full hearing that would help
fund essential care and preventative/screening measures. If passed, the Mental
Health Parity Act, introduced by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), could
also help families in postpartum crises.
Up to 80 percent of new mothers
experience the “baby blues,” a mild mood disorder that includes crying and
feeling low and lasts a few days or weeks. Some 10 to 15 percent experience a
mild to severe clinical depression, which may include insomnia, anxiety, panic
attacks, fears/obsessive behaviors, thoughts about hurting the baby/self or
inability to care for self/baby. One or two in 1,000 new moms experience
psychosis, a break from reality and a medical emergency.
For more
information or to donate to the organization, visit www.depressionafterdelivery.com or contact Cangialosi at
1-800-944-4PPD.
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Sidebar: Postpartum Help for
Fathers
Postpartum depression and related illness were recognized as a
unique biological phenomenon in birth mothers as early as 400 A.D. by
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, however, today’s fathers and adoptive or
foster parents can also be at risk.
The June 14, 2004 issue of Medical
News Today reported that StatsCan Canadian Community Health Survey on Mental
Health and Well Being found that men can also be vulnerable to depression during
an exhaustive or stressful transition to parenthood. The article calls men’s
mental health in general a “sleeper issue” that is just beginning to receive
attention (www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=9475). In
addition, fathers, may have a need for support and information when their
partners are undergoing PPD.
Depression After Delivery Inc. is a
national nonprofit organization providing support, education, and referral to
families at risk during ante- and postpartum depression and related illness. It
offers a special web page for fathers at www.depressionafterdelivery.com. Fathers can request an info
pack at 1-800-944-4PPD that includes a national volunteer phone network of
fathers, mothers and others.
Fathers can find additional support at the
Web site www.postpartumdads.org.
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Editor's note: For more
information:
Donna Cangialosi, Administrator Depression After
Delivery
908-541-9712; e-mail protected from spam bots
Joyce Venis, RNC,
DAD President, 609-683-1000 or other board member through Cangialosi
Carol
Blocker, Stokes Foundation, 312-225-1310
Katherine Stone, e-mail protected
from spam bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/6/prweb134695.htm