Helping Mothers Cope

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Letters

Dear Visitors,
Thank you for the many letters of encouragement and gratitude I have received from mothers who have visited this website and enjoyed the resources, information, or assistance I have provided. To those who have written from remote areas and faraway countries where help and support are not readily available, I hope that my suggestions have proven useful.

Thanks to those who have made suggestions for resources I may have omitted, and to those mothers who have sent stories of courage and sadness about prenatal and postpartum battles won and sometimes not won..

With your permission, I have decided to begin publishing some of those experiences, stories and feedback letters on this page. If you would like to have your letter published, please send it to me exactly as you would like it to be printed here.  (Please note that I may need to shorten long stories/ letters that are more than 2 or 3 paragraphs.) 

I will never print your name and email address without your permission, so please, at the end of your story or letter, be sure to put the following:

1. The name you would like published (i.e. your own name or a fictitious name or just put "name witheld");
2. Your location (be as general or as specific as you like, e.g. USA or Chicago or Lincoln Park);
3. Your email address (if you would like it published) or no email address.

Send your letters to: Kim@themommyblues.com.
Put in the subject line: "Letter for publication on TheMommyBlues.com"

From AF:

"Dear Kim,
I'd like to commend you and your organization on all the current resources for Post Partum Depression. In 1975 I gave birth to  a sweet little boy named  Ben. I parented him the only way I  knew how , "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child". In my case I always took it a bit too far, if you've seen those babysitters on the news filmed by hidden cameras - that was me. My husband quietly let me do what I thought best so he pretty much stayed in the background. He also says he didn't dare confront me because he knew how "explosive" I would become.

Needless to say our son suffered depression, lack of self-esteem and the teen-age years were a whole other story. When his Alcohol and substance abuse hit its all time high, I began to look at myself and think about how my terrible treatment of him played a part. When he was about eighteen we started talking and I started listening .We slowly began to heal the wounds, he married at twenty-one and had a beautiful baby daughter, and we have a terrific daughter-in-law. His marriage started to experience problems as he  struggled with the alcohol/substance abuse. They separated in June of 2001 and he was miserable without them.

On the evening of August 28th he borrowed a friends Harley and went to see them. Harsh words were exchanged and he at a dangerously high speed, hit two trees and died of multiple blunt trauma instantly. I am currently in therapy and on medication for my depression and suicidal thoughts after being hospitalized for the previous. Do you know the anguish I feel wondering how much my treatment of him influenced his life? I do not know if I can ever forgive myself. The most frustrating part is that I can't go back and do it over again and that he left with so many unfinished issues. I thought we'd have a long time to continue working on our relationship. If there is one word of advice to the new mothers is that, please use your resources and get all the help you can. Save yourselves a lifetime of hell."

Student:

Kim, Thank you so much for all your help. WOW, these sites were full of information that got me an A for leading my group as well as an A for supporting information. This is the most exciting part. I have been selected along with 4 other individuals for a 2 plus 2 scholarship which will enable me to complete my education at my current community college, then 2 years to complete a Bachlors in Psychology. I don't fully have all the details, but I am excited. I never thought I could it, and I thank you for all of your help.

10/27/03

I wanted to say that I really dig your site!  I am a childbirth educator and doula and am constantly looking for sites that I can recommend to my clients to further educate themselves on nutrition for their pregnancy.  This is one site that will definitely be added to that list!
Thanks for your hard work in this area,
Lauralynn Pearson CCE-CD
310-513-6239

11/4/2003

Hi Kim.

I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your website. I have never seen so much relevant information and links packed into one spot. It is so completely inclusive, informative, and compassionate. Thank you for creating and maintaining such a valuable resource. I am in Portland Oregon, and am the Oregon/Idaho coordinator for PSI. I do get many calls and emails from women in rural, underserved areas, and it is invaluable to offer them internet resources.

In Portland we have developed a good network and I'm happy to have your site to add to that. If you want to add my name to your resources, I would love to send you whatever info you need. I offer counseling and consultation for prevention and treatment of perinatal mood disorders, and training for support groups and other professionals. Portland also has a great mom-to-mom support group, the Baby Blues Connection. www.babybluesconnection.org I helped to start it in 1994 and facilitated for several years, but now it is completely run by moms who have been trained to be phone coaches and group leaders. It is a great and active group of women.

Thanks again for what you've done!!

Wendy N. Davis, PhD
Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
Portland Oregon
503.246.0941
postpartumhope@aol.com

If you are struggling in anyway
or would like someone to talk to about mothering concerns,
please email: Kim@themommyblues.com. 

As a psychotherapist, postpartum counselor and mother's coach, Kim Richardson specializes in helping and supporting all moms who are stressed and overwhelmed. She works with new mothers during pregnancy, adoption, fertility and early motherhood and has specialized in treatment, education and diagnosis of postpartum depression.

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