As every family knows, childbirth brings with it many changes: physical, mental and emotional.
But what they perhaps don’t know, is what supports are available to help them navigate those changes, and how to access them.
“Forty per cent of women will be actually diagnosed at some stage with a perinatal mental health disorder,” noted Stephanie Kolaski, a perinatal mental health therapist who practises at Lotus Counselling Services in Waterdown. “And 20 per cent of men - and I’m speaking in traditional terms - will also receive the same diagnosis. So if the mother is diagnosed with perinatal mental health disorder, it goes into one and two, that the father will be diagnosed.”
It wasn’t until Kolaski became a mom herself that she realized the need to improve Canada’s strategy around perinatal mental health, and increase awareness. During her second maternity leave, she earned her perinatal certificate.
“This really showed me how much there is not support there,” she said, pointing out that the gap extends to the training mental health care and medical professionals receive.
“I think that the key thing is we're not talking about it in school and for therapists,” Kolaski said. “And then we look at medical professionals and unless you're specializing in care for that population it's really only talked about from a medical standpoint, even though anxiety and depression are the number one complication during the perinatal period.”
Gaps come at a high cost
The gap between families and the supports that can help them comes at a high cost, she adds.
“Suicide is still in the top of leading causes of death in Canada for parents so we're not intervening, we’re not educating,” she said.
Kolaski participated in Flora’s Walk in Hamilton last year. This year she and Lotus Counselling owner Elisha Scafer are bringing the walk to Waterdown on Saturday, May 4 to coincide with World Maternal Health Day, which happens May 1.
The event, now in its third year, is named for Flora Babakhani, a Toronto mom who died by suicide two months after her baby was born, due to undiagnosed and untreated postpartum psychosis.
The funds raised will support perinatal mental health programming on two levels: 75 per cent of the donations will be used to create local, cost-accessible programming for families while 25 per cent of the funding will support advocacy efforts to create a national perinatal mental health strategy.
Wait times are excessive
While St. Joseph’s Hospital provides excellent programming in Hamilton, families face wait times and transportation barriers. Schafer and Kolaski decided launching a local walk was a perfect opportunity.
“So the wait times right now, for new parents, specifically moms. is almost the whole postpartum period of itself,” said Kolaski. "Hamilton has a great Women's Health Clinic at St. Joe's, but a lot of times we hear with the work that we do with clients here at Lotus, is that they get referred when they're pregnant and when they get their first appointment their child’s a year old.”
“It’s just volume more than anything, which speaks to the need,” said Schafer.
Creating a maternal wellness hub that serves areas of Flamborough including Waterdown, Carlisle, Freelton and Millgrove would alleviate those pressures, say Schafer and Kolaski. Lotus aims to raise $5,000 to create two group programs.
“Our barrier as a private clinic is the cost,” said Kolaski. “So Flora’s Walk is perfect timing. Here's a way that we have the flexibility and control to bring this to the community while also removing the cost from it completely – ideally, depending on how much we raise.”
The walk is also an opportunity to shine a light on the importance of a strong national perinatal mental health strategy and the impact of accessible, low-cost programming.
“That's a huge part of that, the awareness piece, with Flora’s Walk,” said Kolaski. “We're not talking about it. There aren’t enough supports. So we're hoping to rewrite that narrative every year that this happens, and we're hoping to be a catalyst in that for our community.”
The Waterdown Flora’s Walk takes place Saturday, May 4 at Joe Sams Leisure Park. The event will include music, speakers and draws for prizes. The fun gets started at 10:30 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m.
For more information visit the Team Waterdown page on the Flora’s Walk website.
