This is not a bill to help pregnant women. It’s a bill to generate business for pharmaceutical companies. It requires screening of ALL pregnant women (Big Brother government), does not enforce informed consent, will lead to the drugging of millions of pregnant women with drugs (e.g., the SSRI anti-depressants and the atypical anti-psychotic drugs) known to endanger fetuses and to cause in mothers psychosis and other nasty “side-effects.” The screening is a rote process known to produce huge numbers of false positives. (Note that Melanie Block killed herself AFTER being treated by use of these drugs. And the major crimes against babies by mothers have been committed by mothers already under psychiatric treatment and either on heavy dosages of psych. drugs or suffering from recent withdrawal from them.) We do not need a law aimed at enriching pharmaceutical companies and drugging millions of mothers.

It is known that anti-depressants cause suicide rates to go up. The Mother’s Act is designed by and for pharmaceutical companies, at the expense of mothers and their babies. This is a controversial bill, which only guarantees the transfer of billions of dollars from taxpayers to a small number of corporations that employ a large number of lobbyists.

The further drugging of America is not a good direction to go. I have known a number of people who never considered suicide until on a psychiatric drug, but then ended up dead. Psychiatric drugs, even according to psychiatrists, cure nothing – and even according to their warnings have side effects such as “suicide”.

This bill is not about helping mothers but about getting more americans on drugs. They should jail these drug pushers!!!

I wish this bill had been in place both times I was pregnant. Had I been screened my doctors and I would have known that I have many risk factors for PPD. And they would have known how to help me. Instead, I had to find the help myself and thank god for me and my family that I did. No one pushed drugs on me. That is just completely ridiculous. And what motivation does a mother of a dead child have to help fund pharma companies because they obviously did not help her daughter. My first experience with PPD I chose not to go on medication, but my second experience I did chose to go on medication. It helped me be able to function so I could take care of my family. Without it I don’t know where we would all be. Instead of just blasting what is out there perhaps you have a better suggestion as to how to help mothers suffering from this debilitating disease. I’d like to hear them.

“And what motivation does a mother of a dead child have to help fund pharma companies because they obviously did not help her daughter.” If you are referring to Carol Blocker, I wonder the same thing all the time. She now claims Melanie didn’t take all her antidepressants. Based on that logic the motivation is to force mothers to take their pills through government monitoring. http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/a-message-to-anyone-who-says-melanie-stokes-did-not-receive-enough-psychiatric-treatment/

Yes we do have helpful suggestions, and if by “what is out there” you mean antidepressants and antipsychotics etc., oh and involuntary electroshock, then you obviously don’t know “what is out there.” See: http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/preventing-and-treating-emotional-physical-problems-in-moms/

So are you basically saying that even though your family helped you out, that women need the government to help them out by telling them about antidepressants because apparently they have not heard of them before?

And as for me, I was screened, drugged, hospitalized against my will and separated from my baby, and driven mad by antidepressants. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQW23XCmOCw I have several friends with DEAD children because of antidepressant exposure in utero / breast milk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGX_34TmT4w

So what are you planning to do if you get pregnant again… will you risk exposing your baby to the meds? Or did you eventually get off of them?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUiszFyIby4

http://uniteforlife.wordpress.com/the-mothers-act/

We have over 10,100 signatures on our petition against the bill. Thousands upon thousands have sent letters or called. It makes no sense to support something that will encourage millions of women to go on drugs that have a BLACK BOX SUICIDE WARNING, cause psychosis, homicidal ideation, infant birth defects and deaths.

What pill do you have to fix the defects in the babies’ hearts, or their fatal PPHN, or what pill will take away the pain of losing your baby? Antidepressants double stillbirths and miscarriages and increase preterm births, heart defects, major malformations, PPHN, etc. Not to mention SIDS.

Wake up people. If you choose to take meds that is your choice, don’t pretend that women’s lives need intervention from the goverment just because they are pregnant or new moms. Talk about ruining what is supposed to be a joyous event by making moms scared and paranoid that they might be mentally ill. Give me a break!

I can only speak from my own experience and obviously you do too. I feel saddened that you had such a horrible experience and hope things have improved. I took medication in my third trimester of my second pregnancy, and fortunately my daughter was born alive and in excellent health. She remains, at age 6, in excellent health both mentally and
physically. I can not even comprehend the devastion of losing a child. It breaks my heart. My husband and I have chosen not have any more children because of the devastation of PPD. I was only on meds for about 2 years and have been off them for 4 years.

With the birth of my first daughter and subsequent illness with PPD, the treatment that best helped me was a support group. However, these are hard to find, are not available in most areas and don’t always run due to poor funding. It is also difficult to find a therapist with expertise in PPD. This bill will provide for these things too. People need to know that PPD exists and they are not alone and they are not to blame. Knowledge is power! BTW – what other suggestions might you have for women to be able to find help and resources and to even know what they have?

My friend Christian also took Zoloft during one pregnancy and her baby was ok, but not during the next when she took Effexor. Many others have died from Zoloft. My other friend Christiane had a baby who died 2 hours after birth from Effexor. Every baby is different, and some are unlucky. That’s not a risk I am willing to take.

That’s so sad that you never had any more kids! They told me not to have more also. If the drugs worked so well then why didn’t you have more children?

I am all for support but women need to be given informed consent. This is dangerous territory and these decisions need to be made by the woman in consultation with her doctor and family. The government condoning or encouraging what is going on within psychiatry – the practice of drugging pregnant women – is completely irresponsible.

I am sorry you had such a rough time but this bill is not the answer. I posted a link above to the alternatives article, but here it is again: http://tinyurl.com/ppdalternatives

The drugs did work as did the help I paid to have for 3 months (very expensive) and my hubby getting up with the baby at night during the week and then going to work. It is all just too much for me but thanks for the empathy. I have two beautiful, lovely daughters and I am so grateful for that. I took Paxil while pregnant and then afterward. Thanks for the link I will definately check it out. But we also need a way to raise more awareness about PPD. No one spoke to me about it before or after. I have many risk factors for PPD and had I had more info maybe it would not have been so hard. Knowing what was going on was half the battle.

By the way, and I’m just curious, it’s my nature, are you against just psych drugs or all drugs? I ask because there are many other drugs out there that help many people but also have risks that could lead to death or other illnesses. I have a friend on chemo and the chemo she is on can cause leukemia. Worth the risk? I don’t know but it is for her. Get rid of one cancer just to get another one? There are also asthma medications that can increase the risk of asthma related death.

anything designed by and for pharmaceutical companies is dangerous…. we have to many drugs available today… They make a pill for anything

As a first time mother last year I struggled with postpartum depression, I was lucky I found help in a community of mothers who understood what I was going through. I tried medication and it was not the right treatment for me. This bill is not about drugging up Americans or taking away your rights, it’s about getting support and research out there for mothers. It’s about making it easier for our daughters, isn’t that what is most important. Maybe if we had a better hold of this illness, maybe if we had more research on treatments we could find out that there are other ways besides our OBs running straight to the prescription pad. None of that can happen if we don’t take the time to get the research and to get the message out that mothers are not alone. That you are not a bad parent because you are sad. It happens to a great deal of mothers why are we making them feel ashamed! I wish that more people would take the time to read the bill, I think it would have more support.

If you read the bill you will see that it has nothing to do with pharmecutical companies.

Anyone that has survived a depressive illness knows just how torturous, insidious and dangerous depression can be. Postpartum depression is a step above that. It is not mere sadness – but brutal fear, anxiety, loss of appetite, insomnia, terrible thoughts and the inability to take care of one’s self. Imagine having all this and a new baby, or a larger family as well. 1 in 5 is the statistic for peri-natal mood disorders. So common, yet mostly under diagnosed. This Bill is for awareness. Thank goodness for this Bill. Hopefully it will finally pass, and more people will know that postpartum depression is real, very scary, treatable, temporary and not something to be ashamed of having.