POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ‘Evening in Spain’ benefits task force

A fundraiser at Gould Barn in Topsfield this week will help fund programs for women with postpartum depression (PPD).

“An Evening in Spain” takes place Friday, Nov. 18 and will feature keynote speaker Sen.

Joan Lovely, co-chair of the state’s Legislative Commission on Postpartum Depression.

PPD is common and can strike anyone, says Topsfield resident Jamie Zahlaway Belsito, advocacy chair for the National Coalition for Maternal Mental Health. Depression and anxiety are the No. 1 complications of pregnancy, she says, and suicide is the second leading cause of death in postpartum women. Despite these statistics, she says, none of the North Shore’s three hospitals and one birthing center have a maternal mental health specialist or any support services for women suffering from PPD.

Belsito, who is also the commissioner for the state Legislative Commission, has been working with Lovely to change that.

PPD, Belsito says, can be anything from anxiety and obsessive compulsive behavior to psychosis with hallucinations and thoughts of harming oneself or the baby. Many women have insomnia because they’re constantly worried about their baby.

Belsito suffered from PPD in 2010 after giving birth to her first child.

“I thought somehow I was going to hurt my baby,” she says.

Belsito says she didn’t know how she’d hurt the baby, but she kept thinking she would. When she finally raised the white flag and went to Beverly Hospital for help, she says, she discovered there weren’t any treatments available. She was given an anti-depressant, but that was it. When she went through another bout with PPD after giving birth to her second child, she went to a different hospital but found there was a six- to eight-week wait for services.

The other problem women face, Belsito says, is the stigma attached to PPD.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I was afraid someone was going to take my kids away,” she says.

Belsito had to really dig to find practitioners who could help her. She didn’t want other women to go through that. While PPD is very serious, she says, it’s temporary and treatable, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

So, Belsito reached out to Sen. Lovely, telling her the lack of maternal mental health services constituted a health crisis. Lovely, she says, took it on herself to learn more about the issue and eventually came to co-chair the Legislative Commission.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration has been supportive, Belsito says, and the state has rolled out the only program in the nation to help women with PPD.

“We are leading the charge,” she says.

But, she says, there is still work to do. Friday’s fundraiser will help fund community support programs and education initiatives. It will be a celebration of life that will send a message to women that they don’t have to face PPD by themselves.

“You are not alone,” Belsito says. “That’s the most important thing for people to know.”