More women will suffer from Postpartum Anxiety and Depression in a year than the combined number of new cases for men and women of Tuberculosis, Leukemia, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Lupus, and Epilepsy.

More women will suffer Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders than new cases of breast cancer annually.

$32,000 is the annual cost per mother/infant pair of NOT treating PMADs.  This figure includes lost wages, unnecessary visits to the ER, and doctors office visits.

Did you know of the approximately 361,000 babies born each day, 20% of those mothers will be affected by PMADS – 72,000 women.  Of that number only 15% will seek help – 10,800.

Untreated PMAD’s have been associated with serious consequences, most notably impaired mother-infant bonding which can have long term effects on emotional and cognitive skills.

Maternal depression and anxiety is a stronger risk factor for child behavioral problems than smoking, binge drinking, and emotional or physical domestic abuse.

Serious depression and anxiety in parents can affect the children in their care.  When children grow up in an environment of mental illness, the development of their brains may be seriously weakened, with implications for their ability to learn as well as for their own later mental and physical health.

Children who experience maternal depression early in life may experience lasting affects on their brain architecture and persistent disruption of their stress response systems.