A bill to help new mothers fight postpartum depression and psychosis has a second, promising chance to pass Congress this year, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said Monday.
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. -- A bill to help new mothers fight postpartum depression and psychosis has a second, promising chance to pass Congress this year, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said Monday.
The bill, called the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act, was defeated last year, but has passed the House, and lacks one vote for approval in the Senate, Menendez, D-N.J., said during a press conference.
The bill, named for a Chicago woman who committed suicide three months after giving birth, would appropriate $15 million in federal grants for support services, education and research into postpartum depression, which strikes an estimated 10 percent to 20 percent of new mothers -- 850,000 women -- each year.
"With a (currently) different Senate and administration, there's a tremendous opportunity to make it a reality,'' he told advocates for the legislation.
Menendez was part of a panel that included former New Jersey first lady Mary Jo Codey, who has openly discussed her experience with postpartum depression after the birth of her son in 1984.
About one woman per 1,000 new mothers develops psychosis. Five percent of those commit suicide and 4 percent kill their babies, according to national data.
Main opposition to the bill has come from Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, an obstetrician, who has said peer-reviewed scientists, not politicians, should decide funding on disease-specific legislation.
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. -- A bill to help new mothers fight postpartum depression and psychosis has a second, promising chance to pass Congress this year, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said Monday.
The bill, called the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act, was defeated last year, but has passed the House, and lacks one vote for approval in the Senate, Menendez, D-N.J., said during a press conference.
The bill, named for a Chicago woman who committed suicide three months after giving birth, would appropriate $15 million in federal grants for support services, education and research into postpartum depression, which strikes an estimated 10 percent to 20 percent of new mothers -- 850,000 women -- each year.
"With a (currently) different Senate and administration, there's a tremendous opportunity to make it a reality,'' he told advocates for the legislation.
Menendez was part of a panel that included former New Jersey first lady Mary Jo Codey, who has openly discussed her experience with postpartum depression after the birth of her son in 1984.
About one woman per 1,000 new mothers develops psychosis. Five percent of those commit suicide and 4 percent kill their babies, according to national data.
Main opposition to the bill has come from Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, an obstetrician, who has said peer-reviewed scientists, not politicians, should decide funding on disease-specific legislation.
Increased awareness will not only help new mothers, but "husbands and families will be able to recognize the symptoms, and get treatment,'' Menendez said.
"I view this as not just an issue about women,'' he said. "It's about the totality of the family.''
Codey said she was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward after she was stricken by deep depression, suicidal impulses and thoughts of harming her newborn son.
"I had never heard about postpartum depression,'' said Codey, whose advocacy helped New Jersey become the first state to require screening of new mothers for signs of the illness. "I was blindsided by it.''
"How many new mothers and babies do we have to lose before we pass this act?'' Codey said.
The national bill would not mandate screening, Menendez said. "Hopefully, states would adopt screening,'' he said.
Dr. Fred Rezvani, director of gynecology and obstetrics at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood explained what is known about the condition.
"What causes it? We don't know yet,'' he said. A crash in hormones, from 100 times the normal level at delivery, to below normal levels after birth, may be a factor that causes depression, insomnia and "a pseudo-menopausal state'' in new moms, Rezvani said.
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Go here to see the frequency of Postpartum Psychosis comared with the much more frequent psychosis, suicidality and aggression, etc. that comes with taking antidepressants according to the drug label: http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/frequency-of-drug-adverse-reactions/
How many BABIES AND MOTHERS do we have to lose before people stop trying to push women to take drugs for something that is safely treatable and preventable in other ways?
See: http://tinyurl.com/IndiVid
http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/preventing-and-treating-emotional-physical-problems-in-moms/
Baby Indi is not alone. There are thousands more dead or injured babies and you can see the totals here: http://tinyurl.com/StopMAReasons
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The bill refers to postpartum depression and psychosis only but Pharma front groups have internet websites set up with links to screening programs that screen women before, during and after pregnancy for a whole list of "mood" and "anxiety" disorders.
The SSRI antidepressants are not the only drugs sought to be marketed via this scheme. These days people are prescribed 2, 3 or even 4 drugs at a time, including "mood stablizers" such as antipsychotics and antisiezure drugs and ADHD drugs as well.
All of which not only cause serious adverse effects for women but also to the fetus through pregnant and nursing moms.
None of the above drugs are FDA approved as safe for use by pregnant or nursing womem.
Evelyn Pringle