[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 77 (Thursday, June 15, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S5945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         EDUCATING NEW MOTHERS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the importance 
of educating new mothers about postpartum depression. The bill I am 
introducing today with Senator Menendez will provide screening and 
education for women who have given birth and will promote research into 
the causes, diagnoses and treatments for postpartum depression.
  The Commonwealth Fund released a study last month that finds post-
partum depression inhibits a mother's ability to safely and effectively 
care for her children after pregnancy. Mothers who are affected by 
post-
partum depression are less likely to provide essential developmental 
support for the child through playing, talking, showing picture books, 
and following daily routines.
  For many mothers, the depression worsens if it isn't diagnosed, which 
can lead to substance abuse, loss of employment, divorce, further 
social alienation, self-destructive behavior, and even suicide.
  A few years ago in Chicago, within a 4-week period, several new 
mothers who were affected by postpartum depression took their own 
lives.
  Melanie Stokes jumped from a 12-story Chicago hotel, taking her life 
only a few months after her daughter was born, The day before her 
daughter's first birthday, Amy Garvey's body was found floating in Lake 
Michigan. Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling, from Wisconsin, jumped in front a 
subway train in Chicago less than 5 months after giving birth to her 
son, Five days after giving birth to quadruplets, Ariceli Erivas 
Sandoval drowned herself in Lake Michigan.
  These are tragic, heart-wrenching stories. I wish I could say that is 
the end of the story, but the problem is far more common than that. 
Each year, far more than half of women giving birth suffer from 
postpartum mood changes. The more mild ``baby blues'' affect up to 80 
percent of new mothers. Postpartum mood and anxiety disorders impair 10 
to 20 percent of new mothers, and postpartum psychosis strikes 1 in 
1,000 women after birth.
  The Menendez-Durbin bill authorizes postpartum depression screening 
and information for mothers before they leave the birthing center. 
Through a State grant program, health care providers are given the 
tools they need to recognize signs of depression and to educate women 
and their families about the disorder and how to access help.
  We also call on the National Institutes of Health to convene a series 
of national meetings on postpartum depression and psychosis and then to 
expand and intensify research around that consensus.
  Our bill has been endorsed by the Illinois Chapter of the American 
Academy of Pediatrics; the Illinois Psychiatric Association; Postpartum 
Support International; the Association of Women's Health; Obstetric and 
Neonatal Nurses, AWHONN; the Family Mental Health Institute, Inc.; the 
National Mental Health Association and the New Jersey chapter, and the 
New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Obstetrics and 
Gynecology, ACOG.
  I urge my colleagues to join Senator Menendez and me in supporting 
the MOTHERS Act, which will ensure that new mothers are educated about 
postpartum depression and that research will help us prevent and treat 
postpartum depression in new mothers.

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