Model, actress, and outspoken activist Chrissy Teigen has teamed up with Allegheny Health Network (AHN) to help women suffering from postpartum depression. And it all starts with one little hashtag: #MyWishForMoms.
Postpartum depression (PPD) affects more than 500,000 women annually; that adds up to one-out-of-seven new mothers. Unfortunately, only about 15 percent of women seek treatment. Teigen and AHN hope to change that statistic through a social cause initiative called #MyWishForMoms.
“While postpartum depression is the number one complication of pregnancy, many women and families do not seek help because of the stigma associated with PPD and related mental health disorders,” Dr. Rebecca Weinberg of the AHN Alexis Joy D’Achille Center for Perinatal Mental Health told Parentology. “In an effort to ignite a national conversation around perinatal mental health, and thereby reduce the associated stigma with receiving help, AHN partnered with Chrissy Teigen on this social cause initiative, #MyWishForMoms.”
Teigen, who has been publicly open about her struggles with postpartum depression, felt compelled to get involved.
“It’s so important to me to normalize the stigma of postpartum depression for women,” she told Parentology. “It’s important for women to come together; seek treatment, seek help.”
Throughout May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, Teigen is asking moms to share what they wished they would have known about postpartum depression with the hashtag #MyWishForMoms.
For its part, AHN will work to educate and inform families about the signs, risks and treatment options available for PPD through their website MyWishForMoms.org. The website features information and interviews that can help moms and families. “Our ultimate goal is to let women know they are not alone and there are effective treatments out there to help them feel like themselves again,” Weinberg said.
Building awareness and educating women and their families about PPD is the first step to reducing the stigma, and why initiatives like #MyWishForMoms are so important.
“Many women who experience postpartum mood and anxiety disorders feel alone and ashamed [because] the time that they think ‘should be the happiest time in their life’ is actually one of the most difficult,” said Weinberg, who is a clinical psychologist specializing in women’s behavioral health. “By sparking a national conversation via #MyWishForMoms, women can share their personal stories and understand that what they are experiencing is incredibly common and that it can happen to anyone.”
Chrissy Teigen is known for speaking openly and candidly about her life. Fortunately, she’s continued on that path with #MyWishForMoms. By lending her own story and vulnerability to a cause that is quite personal to her, Teigen hopes to help women who are suffering realize that they are not alone — that there is help for them.
Sources
MyWishForMoms.org
Centers For Disease Control And Prevention
American Psychological Association
Allegheny Health Network
Glamour