Motherhood and Mental Health
Wednesday, February 04 2009
by Frank Stasio and Susan Davis
UNC Hospitals recently opened an inpatient unit to treat extreme cases of postpartum depression. The six-bed unit is the first of its kind in this country. Surveys say that 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? In this rebroadcast of a show recorded on Dec. 9, host Frank Stasio poses these questions and others about the lasting effects of motherhood on a woman's mental health. His guests are Dr. Elizabeth Bullard, the director of UNC Hospitals' 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" Because the program is a rebroadcast, we will not be taking calls today, though you will hear callers during the program.
