Pregnancy and Parenthood Resources

mother: to treat a person with great kindness and love and to try to protect them from anything dangerous or difficult

ed: education, the process of teaching and learning

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A research study into the top causes of death during pregnancy and one year postpartum of California mothers found overdose and suicide the leading causes of maternal death. In 2018, a new mother in Napa lost her life to postpartum mental illness. Two moms from a local nonprofit consisting of more than 300 moms in the Napa Valley, saw this local tragedy as a charge to develop a program to strategically support the maternal mental health of expectant and new mothers and their families.

 

There is increasing evidence that strategies to combat the impact of maternal mental illnesses that include regular peer support, mentorship and focus on self-care are effective against the crisis facing moms today. We started as MomSquad Napa Valley, and we rebranded in 2020 as MotherEd because it encompasses our value to protect each other, and to honor the old adage, "that knowledge is power" in overcoming the impact of maternal mental illness. 

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Did you know?

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• Women in their childbearing years account for the largest group of Americans with depression.

• Postpartum mood disorders are the most common complication of childbirth.

• There are as many new cases of mothers suffering from maternal depression each year as women diagnosed with breast cancer.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics has noted that maternal mental illness is the most under diagnosed obstetric complication in America.

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"Though the onus shouldn’t be on moms to fix the system, the reality is, moms are the only ones who can paint a full picture of what postpartum depression and maternal mental illness actually feels and looks like." -Patricia Tomasi of the Maternal Mental Health Research Collaborative