Why we do what we do: Because it works. Here's some proof.

Mom to Mom Support Prevents PPD

Excerpted from WEB MD:

"Phone calls from volunteer mothers who overcame postpartum depression prevent depressive symptoms in at-risk mothers, a Canadian study shows.

'Mothers who received this support were at half the risk of depressive symptoms 12 weeks after delivery,' says study leader Cindy-Lee Dennis, PhD, Canada research chair in perinatal community health at the University of Toronto.

The study included 701 women at risk of postpartum depression. Half got standard postnatal care and half got peer support. With standard care, 25% of the mothers had significant depressive symptoms 12 weeks after delivery. About half as many women who got peer support -- 14% -- had such symptoms.

...'So we recruited mothers from the community who felt they had themselves experienced postpartum depression, so they know what it is like," Dennis tells WebMD. "Mothers are more willing to disclose their feelings to another mother who knows what it is like than to a doctor or nurse.' "

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