What it is
If you need help now, this is the page. Three numbers, who picks up, and what the call is like.
988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 any time, for any crisis, not only thoughts of ending your life. A trained counselor answers, usually within a minute. They ask what is going on and stay on the line with you. Most calls end with a plan for the next few hours, not an ambulance. Spanish is available by pressing 2. You can call for someone else.
The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is 1-833-852-6262. Posters often print it with letters: 1-833-TLC, then M-A-M-A. Call or text, 24 hours a day, in English or Spanish, with interpreters for many other languages. Counselors are trained in pregnancy and postpartum. They listen, help you sort out what you are feeling, and connect you to care near you. It is free and private.
The PSI HelpLine, from Postpartum Support International, is 1-800-944-4773. Call or text. It is not a crisis line. You leave a message and a trained volunteer calls back, usually the same day, with local resources and a voice that has been there.
What's typical
A 988 call lasts around fifteen to twenty minutes. The counselor asks if you are safe right now, what happened today, and who is around. If you are in danger, they help you get to care and can stay on the line. Fewer than 2 in 100 calls involve sending emergency services. A Maternal Mental Health Hotline call is similar but slower and focused on this season: sleep, feeding, mood, the baby.
What's known
The tiers go like this. Now means 911 or the emergency room: a plan to end your life, not sleeping for days with confusion, hearing or seeing things, or a medical emergency like heavy bleeding or chest pain. Today means call your provider, 988, or the hotline: hopeless most of the day, panic that will not stop, rage that scares you, or any mood past two weeks and not lifting. Next visit means bring it up: low, flat, anxious, or not yourself, but getting by.
What helps
- Save all three numbers in your phone now, under 'help.' Add them to your partner's phone too.
- If you cannot talk, text. 988 and the maternal hotline both take texts.
- You do not need the right words. 'I had a baby and I am not okay' is enough.
When to call someone
- Nowa plan or urge to end your life or hurt the baby. Call 911 or 988. Go to the emergency room. Say the word 'postpartum' at the desk.
- Nowno sleep for two nights plus confusion, voices, or beliefs others say are not true. This may be postpartum psychosis, an emergency.
- Todayhopeless, panicked, or enraged most of the day. Call 1-833-852-6262 or your provider.
- At your next visitnot yourself for more than two weeks. Ask for the Edinburgh screen and a referral.
Who helps
Tools: My Birth Team · Birthworker Directory
Related
- Postpartum depressionPostpartum: Mind
- Postpartum anxietyPostpartum: Mind
- Therapy and medication after birth: what the options arePostpartum: Mind
- Postpartum warning signs: the one-page listPostpartum: Your Body
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Sources
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline FAQ
- Health Resources and Services Administration — National Maternal Mental Health Hotline
- Postpartum Support International — PSI HelpLine
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — What happens when you call
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