Latest ACOG article on depression during pregnancy


Good qustions to ask when you interview a Doula


Click here for Walker's personal experience with PPD
My greatest passion as a birth professional lies in perinatal mental health. All Belly Birth Doula services for women experiencing depression/anxiety in pregnancy, or who have a history of depression/anxiety, include confidential labor support geared specifically for you and your birth, including:
  • Referrals to support groups, postpartum doulas, mental health practitioners, and physicians who specialize in perinatal mental health are given by request.  
  • Consultation on childbirth education and adapting it to your needs.
  • Developing appropriate birth plan and strategies for pain management and birthing choices.
  • Strategizing postpartum support plan for when you come home to include your mental health needs
  • Education regarding perinatal mood/anxiety disorders for you, partner, or family where helpful.
  • Access to evidence-based research regarding alternative therapies, and treatments, so that you can make informed choices regarding your pregnancy, birth and postpartum period.

All Belly Birth Doulas provide constant emotional and physical support in labor and birth, while constantly advocating for your choices requests regarding pain management, privacy, contact with staff, and immediate postpartum care. The special services we provide for women with depression/anxiety are tailored specifically for how you want to manage birth while maintaining mental health. We educate, support and advocate. If you find that getting extra rest by utilizing the nurses on the maternity ward during the first few hours postpartum, we will work to make it happen. If you choose to not breastfeed, we will work toward helping you feel good about that choice. If you are on medication for depression or anxiety, we will work to follow your doctor's instruction and maintain your care.  

Depression/Anxiety Quick FAQs
  • 50% of women experiencing postpartum depression are never treated.
  • Suicide is the leading cause of death for women during the first year after childbirth.
  • Depression leads to increased birth complications such as low birth weight, and preterm delivery.
  • New mothers are especially vulnerable to depression.
  • Maternal depression affects the different stages of a child's development: in utero, during the infant's bonding stage, and during the toddler years and has been shown to adversely affect the health of the baby long after infancy.
  • Hormones released from severe anxiety cross the placenta and can affect the baby, resulting in jittery and irritable newborns, difficulty breastfeeding, increased risk of severe postpartum depression, and long-term developmental complications.

For more information regarding perinatal and postpartum depression and anxiety, please visit Postpartum Support International at: www.postpartum.net; or call the warmline at: 1-800-944-4773