Chicago Woman Throws Party for Postpartum Moms to Help in Dealing With Depression
Danielle Patterson became a new mom in October 2017, then got laid off from her job while still on her maternity leave. But instead of wallowing in despair, she opted to host a party for others who are also dealing with postpartum blues like her.
The 30-year-old South Side native told Chicago Tribune that she started feeling lonely as a new mother while she was fixing the papers for the nonprofit organization that she wants to build for the fatherless girls.
"As I was preparing legal things for the organization, I found myself like, man, I don't have anybody to talk to. I don't have other moms that I can vent to or that I can share my thoughts with and how I'm feeling," she stated.
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She also mentioned that she told her husband while riding in their car that she needs to throw a party for mothers like her who are also having postpartum depression. According to Patterson, she wants to open up an outlet where postpartum mothers can feel comfortable venting out their issues while sipping their mimosas and listening to good music.
However, she revealed that some people raised their eyebrows upon hearing her idea. But she explained that the party was not meant to celebrate postpartum depression.
"I was like, 'No, I want to celebrate the new us while we cope with our changes,'" she said while quoting the tagline of the event she called "Post Party" that took place Saturday, June 30.
"I wanted to create this for us to have a good time, to figure out how we can get through this thing without ripping our head off, going into a deep depression, abandoning our families, without taking extreme measures as far as suicide," she also said.
According to a study published by the Journal of Psychiatric Research in 2015, suicide is one of the leading causes of death of women in their postpartum period. Other similar researches that the Huffington Post cited in a report claimed that one in five postpartum deaths are caused by suicide. This is what Patterson wanted to avoid.
Saturday's Post Party was just the start of what Patterson plans for moms like her in the future.
