The more I get involved in postpartum and mental health issues, the more I see that there are lots of awareness-raising events about them (at least in Vancouver). After the interview with CBC, I was pleasantly surprised when I was contacted to join this year’s “Climb Out of the Darkness” events in British Columbia.
I supported the Vancouver event (Facebook page) and joined the walk organized by Kristen Walker, an instructor at the University of British Columbia, who decided to raise awareness about postpartum issues after the death of someone she knew and their family suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Climb Out of the Darkness is one of the world’s largest events raising awareness of maternal mental illness, like postpartum depression. It is held on or near the longest day of the year to shine the most light on this issue by getting people to join together to climb mountains and hike trails to symbolize the rise out of the darkness of maternal mental illness into the light of hope and recovery.
In addition to fundraising more than $3000 to support postpartum support services, the Vancouver event also brought together around forty people who braved the rain and cold to come out for the morning walk. It was also great to see CBC interviewing people and covering the event.
The turnout was great and it was nice to see that there was this grassroots support for postpartum issues. But definitely more is needed to raise awareness and get people to talk about and share their experiences. The statistics are too real to ignore.
Virtually all women can develop mental disorders during pregnancy and in the first year after deliver.
According to the World Health Organization, virtually all women can develop mental disorders during pregnancy and in the first year after deliver – about 10% of pregnant women and 13% of women who have just given birth experience a mental disorder, primarily depression, and this is even higher for developing countries (15.6% during pregnancy and 19.8% after child birth).
Despite the emphasis in society on the postpartum challenges and struggles women and mothers face, this is also an issue for men whether it’s suffering from similar depression or having to support their partners. More dads need to be involved and speak out about their experience.
