Denver-based organization shining light on mental health struggles of expecting and postpartum women
Denver 7 News
DENVER A Denver-based organization is shining a light on the mental health of not only pregnant women but also postpartum women. The Colorado Perinatal Mental Health Project (CO PMHP ) said that one in five women experience some type of mental health issue after having a baby.
From being pregnant to welcoming a baby into the world, Leslie Caballero shared that her pregnancy was anything but easy.
I technically just threw up the entire pregnancy, and I was super sick, and with that, I lost, you know, my sense of work, said Caballero.
On top of all that, Caballero said she dealt with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) after pregnancy. Conditions that she never would have known about until she started seeking therapy.
I think her putting a name to what I was experiencing and letting me know that I wasn't alone or the first person to go through these kinds of things made me feel less crazy, although I hate using that term, but that's kind of how I felt at that moment, said Caballero.
After getting help, Caballero decided to join the Perinatal Mental Health Project to not only share her story but also help other moms going through similar situations. Today, she works with the organization as a bilingual peer mental health specialist.
So it's really a wide range of emotional and mental health issues. It can look like anxiety, it can look like depression, it can look like OCD. In very, very rare cases, it can look like psychosis, said Kristin Aaker, co-executive director of CO PMHP.
One resource under CO PMHP is the Birth Squad, which focuses on new moms and their families.
We decided that we wanted to offer a no-cost intervention that would provide emotional support with trained mental health providers and peer facilitators, said Patrece Hairston Peetz, co-executive director of CO PMHP.
Peetz said the group meets weekly to guide moms through whatever they face postpartum.
We want you to be happy and thriving, enjoying this time in life and growing into it. And so, you know, reaching out to the Birth Squad or reaching out to resources can be the difference between continuing to struggle or finding happiness, said Peetz.
If you are a mom currently pregnant or in the postpartum who needs mental health help, follow this link for more information.