LONGWOOD, Fla. – In an event at Reiter Park on the Saturday preceding Mother’s Day, the owner of a birth center in Altamonte Springs organized a stroller walk to emphasize the significance of maternal health and well-being.

“We are encouraging mothers to participate by walking with their strollers to raise awareness. We’re also distributing pamphlets that provide information on maternal mental health and wellness, highlighting that one in three women experiences mood disorders not only postpartum but also during pregnancy,” stated Dr. Kaleen Richards of Tree of Life Birth & Gynecology.

Richards pointed out that due to significant hormonal changes from conception to a year after giving birth, women’s mental health might be adversely affected.

“In the first year after childbirth, the number-one cause of death in women is suicide,” she said. “We’re trying to raise awareness so that we there isn’t a stigma and shame around perinatal mood disorders, and to let women know that there is help.”

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Richards’ birth center offers postpartum visits and support croups to help these new mothers get through the tough times.

“It’s not like, ‘Here’s a pill and be better,’ right? It takes weekly support. It takes them coming and feeling care, feeling compassion, feeling support,” Richards said.

Neriyah Israel, who walked with the group Saturday, says she had struggles after the birth of her fourth child.

“I actually developed postpartum depression after my fourth child, and it was so bad, I had to be admitted into a mental facility for six days,” she said. “Usually after you have the baby, it’s like, ‘Let’s check on the baby,’ and then, ‘Mom, you’re just fine,’ but it’s a lot of mental anguish that you go through, all the hormones kind of trying to settle back down, so it can cause a lot of stress on you mentally, and sadly there’s some stories where women have actually harmed themselves and harmed their children because of this.”

Because of what she went through, Israel said it meant the world to spread awareness ahead of Mother’s Day.

Learn more by visiting Tree of Life’s website.