One in five Saskatchewan women will experience mental health issues after having a baby.
Elita Paterson, Tania Bird and Carla O’Reilly all suffered depression after the birth of their children.
They coauthoredThe Smiling Mask to document their experiences.
Last week, they had something to smile about when the MotherFirst working group presented its report to health minister Don McMorris and he endorsed it.
The working group was formed after a Regina conference about postpartum depression a year ago.
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“It’s momentous,” said Paterson. “From the first time that we got together, we were dreaming big. And part of that was creating policy change for our province so that we could change the well-being and happiness for the mothers, and they don’t have to go through what we did.”
The report recommends more education about maternal mental health, universal screening for depression and anxiety for pregnant and postpartum women, and priority mental health treatment for mothers.
“Some of the recommendations are just common sense,” McMorris said.
Angela Bowen, an associate professor in the University of Saskatchewan college of nursing, helped develop the strategy.
“We have had mothers that have committed suicide. We have had women who have tried to kill their children in this province. There are many women who are really a heartbeat away if they don’t get help,” she said.
Women need to be asked about both their emotional and physical health during pregnancy.
Bowen said the whole family should also be included in the screening. Some research has shown that 10 percent of fathers can be depressed. If the mother is depressed, that number for fathers can rise to 50 or 75 percent.
During her research, Bowen also found that rural women supported each other quite well.
