with my son, I was in North Carolina when he was born.

I got the job offer here on my due date, actually, and so we moved when my son was very young.

that was a really, really hard season.

And I struggled with a lot of postpartum anxiety, it was pretty debilitating for me.

I really struggled, with anxiety around my husband leaving the house and kind of fears that he would get in a car accident and I would be alone, and I couldn't deal with it all myself.

It was a really tough season of moving, having a young infant and dealing with postpartum hormones.

we started the Moms Impact program because unfortunately, in our country, in our state, the leading cause of maternal mortality is due to mental health conditions, and that is due to suicide and drug overdose.

And we have a really good understanding about those deaths and why they occur.

And a lot of them have to do with the fact that women often can't access the appropriate care at the right time.

even if somebody identifies that they have a problem and they want help there oftentimes isn't help available, that could be because of insurance reasons or, sometimes that is just there's nobody to actually see or there's really long wait times to see somebody, other barriers are oftentimes that in practice, most providers don't feel comfortable, identifying these conditions.

If they do identify, they don't feel like they have the knowledge to address them.

So they're often not brought up practice.

within the area of maternal morbidity and mortality, we know that there is really significant racial disparities, with black women and individuals that are native are significantly more likely to die during this time in comparison to white women.

With respect to mental health, they're also more likely to experience these problems in comparison to white women and even less likely to make it to treatment.

we know that there is a really important component of making individuals feel comfortable to access treatment.

Because of all of the barriers that might get in the way.

And a big part of that is stigma and discrimination.

as providers, we need to be aware of and appreciate that those are the barriers.

And that's what people are coming to us with and often not trusting the whole system.

And so we need providers that understand that are sensitive to that and can ask people what they need, in their care.

I became pregnant with my daughter, and I knew that I was at a pretty high risk for having postpartum anxiety again.

My daughter was born and there was a flier for the Moms Impact program in my discharge packet.

I kind of noticed it.

I was like, oh, I should file this away.

But in the busyness of those postpartum days, it's back in the folder.

You're just kind of in survival mode Now, I had a toddler at home and, and newborn and I started to struggle with postpartum anxiety again.

And so I remember one day going and digging through my closet and knowing that there was that flier in there and pulled out the flier and called the number she sent me an email, that had a list of all the different providers in the area who took my insurance, what types of services they provided.

Was it virtual?

Was it in person where their group sessions, I was able to find a really wonderful counselor who specialized and postpartum care, And it really significantly changed the trajectory of my second postpartum recovery of being able to kind of work through those emotions, and function and a demanding job while having a toddler and an infant.

what I'm really happy to see is that people are getting treatment earlier.

Oftentimes when we just refer someone to treatment and we schedule their appointment, they're seeing a psychiatrist 4 or 5 months after the fact that they've had a problem and their problems are much more severe.

So being able to back that up to the first point where there is a concern and being able to intervene in that time, is going to put someone on a very different trajectory.

was so thankful that they were consistent, that they followed up with me, and that they took away the those barriers that were keeping me from accessing the care that I needed.