What it is
A postpartum support group is a room, in person or online, where new mothers say the true thing. Postpartum Support International runs free PSI groups online every week, including ones for anxiety, loss, NICU, Black mothers, and dads.
A new mom group can be looser: a library baby time, a stroller walk, a hospital's weekly circle. Mom friends made here often last for years.
What's typical
Most groups meet weekly for an hour. You can sit and listen the first time. Many mothers go once, feel awkward, and go back. The best ones are where you hear your own fear come out of someone else's mouth.
What's known
Peer support is one of the best-studied helps for postpartum depression. A Canadian trial found that phone calls from a trained mother who had recovered cut the rate of depression at twelve weeks by about half.
What helps
- Pick one group and go twice before you decide. Online counts.
- Bring the baby. Everyone's baby cries. That is the point.
- If you can't find your people, call the PSI HelpLine, 1-800-944-4773, and ask for a local coordinator.
When to call someone
- Nowthoughts of ending your life. A group is not the place for a crisis. Call or text 988.
- Todayyou feel worse after a group, or hopeless most of the day. Ask for one-on-one care.
- At your next visitask your provider to name one group and one therapist.
Who helps
Tools: Birthworker Directory · My Birth Team
Related
- Loneliness and isolationPostpartum: Mind
- Finding your villageSupport, Home, and Village
- Postpartum depressionPostpartum: Mind
- When to get help, and who to call tonightPostpartum: Mind
What mothers here say
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Sources
- Postpartum Support International — Online support meetings
- BMJ (Dennis et al.) — Effect of peer support on prevention of postnatal depression among high risk women: multisite randomised controlled trial
- Postpartum Support International — Local support coordinators
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