I’m so happy to welcome my friend Susan Stone, LCSW, a member of the board of directors of Postpartum Progress Inc. and an award-winning, tireless advocate for women with postpartum depression and related mental illnesses, today.

Calling on Maternal Mental Health Programs, Agencies, Nonprofits, Practitioners, Hospitals: Won’t you join our Climb out of the Darkness?

As a board member of Postpartum Progress Inc., the extent of our current levels of participation in Climb Out of the Darkness, a new event to raise awareness and funding, is exhilarating! Warrior Moms have put themselves out there in an amazing show of strength and support for the indispensable maternal health resource that is Postpartum Progress. It is so exciting to visit our site each morning, see the tallies rise each day and view the fabulous images of new participants!

It’s one big pot ladies – a donation for one is a donation for all!

Your professional or organizational participation in Climb out of the Darkness says “I am here for every woman who has struggled with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) and to sustain and give hope to those who suffer now.” We know pregnant and new moms are out there doing solo battle with our common enemy. When they visit Postpartum Progress, we all hope they feel more connected, less alone and encouraged because if all the dynamic beaming faces on these pages survived the scourge of PMADs, perhaps they can too!

Where will the money raised as part of Climb Out of the Darkness go? In Katherine’s own words:

Two purposes: We are going to create new educational materials to be used by obstetricians, pediatricians and others, which will also help educate the media on the public health impact of postpartum depression and related illnesses on mothers and children. Since most brochures handed out to moms suck, we’re going to do a kickass version.

Today, I am calling on the national and international community of maternal mental health entities to join us! All the related non-profit organizations, healthcare providers, facilities, foundations, agencies, programs, practices, hospitals and businesses whose missions and goals are solidly aligned with ours.

There is still a week to go!

Postpartum Progress is the New York Times of what’s happening in PMAD treatment, education, resources and research. And Katherine Stone is our issue’s number one reporter. With the widest reach of any online resource, Postpartum Progress supports every proven entity named above which declares itself galvanized by our cause.

Postpartum Progress posts almost every reputable news release, announcement, television show, practitioner, cable program, webinar, conference, training, book, research, practice, program, foundation and workshop which can possibly help new mothers or those who care for them on this website. And the benefit to them is enormous. Just being mentioned here offers legitimacy, substance and a proclamation of sincere intent.

With an annual readership of more than a million, Postpartum Progress is the primary source for such information sharing and is an invaluable FREE resource to each entity who enjoys the publicity and participation generated by PPP’s worldwide readership.

Postpartum Progress is INCLUSIVE! It’s not about one person, one organization or one program. It’s about WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, what is cutting edge in treatment and research, what we all need to know to choose our path, provide the best services or to select a program. It’s the one stop shopping informational network, the daily read of any true professional affiliated with maternal mental health!

If your announcement is posted here, it gets read. It gets reviewed. It gets an audience. It gets responded to.

This FREE PR benefits ALL! Prolific amounts of information are daily received, organized, prioritized and reviewed by the efforts of one woman who has devoted her life to combating these illnesses. Who applies her considerable talents, passion and LOVE to helping others.

So while the Warrior Moms are rocking this thing over the top having already raised more than $26,000 in just a few weeks, it’s time for our affiliated beneficiaries in maternal mental healthcare to demonstrate their support as well. So in addition to today’s blog, I will be reaching out directly to our sister organizations, foundations, non-profits and programs requesting their donations to this incredibly effective and new annual event which benefits us ALL!!

Not all of these non-profits/agencies/public figures need prompting, or course! Here are a few who have already come forward – I hope to add to this list in the final days leading up to our amazingly successful conclusion!

• Shout out to Karen Kleiman of the Postpartum Stress Center for her generous donation. Karen has been offering a perinatal specialty training to interested professionals for years!
• Barbara Van Dahlen, named one of our nation’s most powerful women by Time Magazine in 2012, and who founded Give an Hour, a fantastically effective nonprofit which has brought awareness to the stresses faced by military mothers is one of our participants.
• Joy Henderson who manages the Regional Perinatal Centers of New York, an extensive group of hospitals in NY State accredited to treat and manage perinatal healthcare has joined with us.
• Sylvia Lasalandra Frodella, a national legislative advocate and pioneering author whose story A Daughter’s Touch has riveted and moved people to action in maternal mental health has thrown her support behind Warrior Moms.
• The Maternal Wellness Team at the Colorado Department of Public Health has joined in!
• Lisa Bernstein, CEO of the What to Expect Foundation one of the most respected non-profits addressing maternal mental health and literacy in the world signed on in honor of her daughter’s graduation!

Let’s lengthen this list in the final days and take our requests DIRECTLY to agencies in every community which state their support of us and help them understand the benefits of the amazing resource that is Postpartum Progress and our Warrior Mom-in-Chief, Katherine Stone.

~ Susan Stone, LCSW