May 7th Is World Maternal Mental Health Day
On this day, let’s get together to bring awareness on the importance of Maternal Mental Health. As a Perinatal Mental Health Specialist in Virginia and Oregon, who walks alongside moms during pregnancy and postpartum, I want to take a moment to celebrate the joys and challenges of this phase of life. Motherhood is powerful. It's transformative, messy, beautiful, and complex. While it invites your heart to expand, it also brings exhaustion, self-doubt, and moments of complete overwhelm. Too often, our society romanticizes this season of life without honoring its difficulties and challenges. Too often this leads to leaving moms without appropriate support systems, without help and under resourced. That’s why this day matters—because Maternal Mental Health matters. As some of my moms at my Portland office often say: “Birth is not only about the baby, it’s also about the mom”.
The Unspoken Realities of Motherhood
Being a mom or a dad can be one of life’s most meaningful and rewarding experiences. It can open your heart in ways you never imagined and bring moments of profound joy and connection. But alongside that beauty, there are all sorts of challenges that aren’t always visible from the outside. These unspoken realities—the fatigue, the anxiety, the self-doubt, the cascade of life changes, combined with scheduling acrobatics —are way too common, and yet so many mothers feel they have to carry them in silence.
Many mothers worldwide experience Mental Health challenges during Pregnancy or Postpartum. Conditions like Postpartum Depression (PPD), Postpartum Anxiety (PPA), Postpartum OCD, and Birth-Related Trauma are far more common than most people realize. But shame and stigma often keep mothers from seeking support, and leaves them suffering in silence.
What can you do?
Talk to other moms.
Ask them if they are OK—really ask. Don’t just skim the surface with polite small talk. Sometimes, all it takes is one honest conversation to lift the weight of isolation off someone's shoulders. You never know who might be quietly struggling, hoping someone notices. A kind word or a moment of genuine connection can be life-changing.
Connect With Others and Build Your Community.
Parents spend a lot of time at home with their infants and their families. As much as this can be comforting and necessary, it can also leave them feeling overwhelmed and isolated. The reality is that there is healing in connection. Communities can be a source of support, a holding space for moms and infants, and a space to bounce ideas and learn from each other. Infants are constantly growing and changing. Therefore, moms need to rapidly learn, change and adapt to their ever changing children. This is very hard to do alone. In a world that often asks moms to “bounce back” or do it all alone, what we truly need is connection. Other moms as well as Perinatal Professionals can be a great support to moms. Together we get stronger.
Give Yourself The Gift Of Therapy.
If you are a mom currently living in Oregon or Virginia and going through a difficult Pregnancy, experiencing symptoms of Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Anxiety, Postpartum OCD, feeling isolated, exhausted and emotionally drained, I encourage you to reach out. Therapy can be a place for you to talk about your new identity, your feelings, your needs and help you reconnect with the joy of motherhood and your hopes and dreams for you and your family.
This World Maternal Mental Health Day, I invite you to give yourself that gift.
Your Mental Health matters—on May 7th, and every day.
If you're ready to start therapy or just have questions, I welcome you to contact me at geraldine.kuph @gmail.com or at (971) 456-4354.