The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act Moves Forward!

katstone — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:42:01 -0500

Today, America's mothers, infants and families have reason to be encouraged and to reach out to their state senators to again request their support of The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act in its final push to passage. YOU HAVE BEEN HEARD and this morning, Majority Leader Reid introduced a package of bills called Advance America's Priorities Act which now includes The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act.

Senators Robert Menendez (NJ) and Richard Durbin (IL) have been working very hard with Majority Leader Harry Reid and Chairman Edward Kennedy to pass this legislation. These initiatives will be considered over the next week. Your renewed advocacy and attention is especially welcome RIGHT NOW! We need to continue make it deafeningly clear how important this bill is to women and families all across America.

The online petition in support of The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act has been reintroduced and we invite your signature and call to your state senators office. If you wish to write a personal letter, this would also offer welcome support. By clicking on this link you will be connected to the petition and information on how you can reach your senator and sign the petition. http://capwiz.com/ndmda/issues/alert/?alertid=11668371 We are almost there!! After years of unfathomable and needless suffering, American women may finally get the relief offered through increased research into the causes of perinatal mood disorders, better education of healthcare professionals to identify and treat these disorders, and grants for programs and services to help women to recovery. Thanks for the tremendous efforts which have brought us to this point and your steadfast participation in this final effort.

The letter above was sent out today by Susan Stone, past president of Postpartum Support International. I sent my own letter to the Senate today and posted it on my blog Postpartum Progress:

I represent tens of thousands of readers of Postpartum Progress, the most widely-read blog in the United States on perinatal mood disorders. I hear from these women every day about the suffering and isolation they're experiencing while going through the devastation of postpartum depression and related illnesses. They want to know why they weren't warned and what could have been done to prevent it. They want to know why there aren't more services available to help them recover, from local support groups and trained healthcare professionals to better information into the causes of perinatal mood disorders and the impact of various treatments. We know from research that untreated perinatal mood disorders are a serious public health threat --they can lead to chronic depression in the mother, behavioral problems in the child and stress-related health problems in both -- yet 90% of all women who suffer are never treated. This serves as an enormous financial cost to our health system and even bigger social cost to our communities now and into the future, and it will continue on perpetually until we break the cycle and take the lead to proactively educate pregnant mothers, support increased research and train our healthcare providers. I know this as a child of a mother who went through PPD, whose mother had it as well, and as a woman who had postpartum OCD herself. Please pass the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act. By doing this, you will immediately begin to create healthier families all across America.

I hope you'll send your letter before the end of the week as well, as this legislation will be worked on this VERY WEEK!

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The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act Moves Forward!