The best hospitals in NYC do the worst on the postpartum unit. I think I know why, but I don't want to piss off the other RN bloggers out there. I worked at a great NYC hospital and was treated like crap when I delivered there (on the postpartum floor only). I finally understood what my patients were complaining about all the time. Mental health has always been ignored in this country-look at how the Armed forces treats Vets with mental health needs. I am happy to see that at least in Michigan they take excellent care of their postpartum patients.

Birdsword

it is a sad state of affairs here with this. We are so isolated as mothers, and the one thing we need, as you stated so eloquently, is community, at this delicate time. In traditional times, and throughout history, new mothers were surrounded by other experienced mothers, and is still so in ''primitive'' countries, and in the developed world, ample time off and pay and so forth is there to support the mom. This isolation and loneliness certainly adds to the postpartum depression risk. I experienced a severe case with my first child. It is a miracle he turned out reasonably well as ill as I was.

There's more to it than just the postpartum period. Birth has become so mechanized, depersonalized, and disempowering in American hospitals that many women feel robbed and even violated by the way they are treated. Women are increasingly pressured into inductions too early (38 weeks or even earlier!), which very often leads to a cascade of other interventions ending in a c/section. Our c/sec rate is over 30% in this country, and should be 10% per the WHO. C/sections are convenient for the hospital, easy to schedule and not dependent on the variations in women's labor times. But like any surgery, they introduce higher risks of infection and complications to women and infants, and (this is anecdotal per my c/sectioned acquintances) tend to depress breastfeeding success and increase the likelihood of PPD. Our infant and maternal mortality rates are higher than many European countries, and have not improved much in the last decade.

And if you think recovery from vaginal birth is hard, try doing it after major abdominal surgery. Organizations like ICAN (International Cesarean Action Network) exist because so many women feel they were coerced into or mistreated during c/sec births. There is quite a large movement to take back birth for women going on right now, but it's still largely underground. Some women are even birthing unattended when they cannot get a midwife or other provider to attend them at homebirth, where they feel safe, often because their previous hospital experiences were so horrific. Countries like France and the Netherlands put birth in the hands of trained midwives; we put it in the hands of surgeons, almost none of whom have ever seen or attended a birth without interventions, much less outside of a hospital. I really believe it's our unhealthy approach to birth as a disease that sets us up for so much trauma, fear and difficulty in recovering.