Kelly Rutan show notes

• Numbers of people reporting postpartum mood disorders like depression & anxiety are low
• 5-20% of birthing people report having mental health issues postpartum but those #’s are low, based on what were seeing in the field as birth workers
• Many things being diagnosed as postpartum depression may, in fact, be something else like anxiety, OCD, rage, PTSD and psychosis. Are we lumping things together?
• Stigma still attached with admitting that we are having mental health issues-especially something as intrusive as OCD and PTSD or rage. We’re not where we need to be yet in the USA
• Big resource no matter where you live in the US is Postpartum Support International (PSI)
• How doulas navigate hospital policy and protocol and families need to choose a good provider that aligns with their values to have a better birth outcome-not just about the hospital
• No one is checking on people during 6 weeks postpartum—doulas do!
• Doulas do more than just support at the bedside in labor and are instrumental in the health of the early parenting journey-sometimes the only people seeing newly postpartum people!

Link: Michigan Family Doulas

After a grueling stint as an antitrust litigation attorney and an equally challenging postpartum experience with her own two children, Kelly changed direction in order to seek out a life that was both meaningful to her and those around her. This change led her to doula work, where she found her calling as a postpartum doula. Kelly eventually started a doula agency called ‘Doulas of Raleigh’ and is a member of the Prodoula training & development team where she trains new doulas!

Postpartum Depression & Psychosis, a famous case that made the news: https://time.com/4375398/andrea-yates-15-years-drown-children/

Find help here:   https://postpartum.net

Mathematica study about PMAD’s: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/societal-costs-of-untreated-perinatal-mood-and-anxiety-disorders-in-the-united-states

Transcripts: Tea with Jodi S1-E4 - Postpartum Mood Disorders with Kelly Rutan