Motherhood and Mental Health
Tuesday, December 09 2008
by Frank Stasio and Susan Davis
Last month UNC hospital opened an inpatient unit to address extreme cases of postpartum depression. The six bed unit is the first of its kind in this country. At least 15 percent of new mothers experience postpartum depression, but experts believe that estimate is low. They say that stigma keeps new moms from reporting their condition and a lack of medical services prevents doctors from diagnosing it. So, what is postpartum? Who suffers? And, how is it treated? Host Frank Stasio considers these questions as well as the lasting effects of motherhood on a woman's mental health with: Dr. Elizabeth Bullard, the director of UNC’s new inpatient unit; Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, director of the Perinatal Psychiatry Program at the Women's Mood Disorders Center at UNC Hospital; William Meyer, director of the Duke Postpartum Support Program; and Faulkner Fox, author of the book, "Dispatches from a Not So Perfect Life" (Harmony Books/2004).
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