May 5, 2015

May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month with May 7th being International Maternal Mental Health Awareness Day. On May 1st, to kick off the month, the UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders hosted a Maternal Mental Health Awareness Day. I had the privilege of participating in the event.

I was available for a book signing of my book, A Mother’s Climb Out of Darkness and Dr. Walker Karraa, author of Transformed by Postpartum Depression: Women’s Stories of Trauma and Growth, was also available for a book signing. There was an afternoon lecture on Perinatal Mental Health Disorders by perinatal psychiatry expert, Dr. Emma Robertson Blackmore. The day ended with an evening screening of the maternal mental health documentary, Dark Side of the Full Moon.

There are maternal mental health awareness events during the month of May so consider participating in one in your area. If there is not one in your area, you can help increase awareness online through social media. I hope that one day in the future every community will have maternal mental health awareness not just in May but every day throughout the year.