Spotlight on Maternal Mental Health and the 2020 Mom Project

Posted on May 25, 2015

Last weekend, I was invited to co-host an awareness and fundraising event for 2020 Moms, along with Kim Walls, CEO of Episential Skin Care Products. Under the beautiful Cali sun, with clouds stopping by, every now and then, to cool off the very mild warmth that one felt occasionally, it was truly perfect weather. The event was a super hit. There were 125 people in attendance, mostly Moms, with a sprinkle of Dads here and there.

I arrived about an hour before the event started—as I usually do—to connect with the setting, soak in the energy, and ground myself with a touch of gratitude for the opportunity. As I sat at the edge of the stage, facing the empty chairs, I couldn’t help but be in awe of how I got here. Less than three weeks before, I had never heard of 2020 Moms and here I am co-hosting their very first fundraising event in Santa Clarita!

Why had I not heard of them or for that matter why have you not heard of them—even though everyone’s heard of post-partum depression? I was quite surprised to learn that despite “postpartum depression” now being a mainstream issue, until two years ago there was no mainstream management plan for it, despite the surprising fact that one out of every seven Moms is affected by some form of maternal mental imbalance. I was also quite shocked to learn about the lack of awareness and education within the medical profession about this issue. Basically, before this movement began, Moms (and their families, consequently) that are affected by this, just went through their confusing and crippling emotions with NO help whatsoever! To my shock, I also learnt that it took an average of 17 asks before a Mom gets some guidance or help to manage postpartum depression.

One out of every seven Moms is affected by
some form of maternal mental imbalance.

It is no wonder that there was a dyer need for this organization! Founded just two years ago by Joy Burkhard, the 2020 Mom Project (“The Project”) is the campaign offshoot of the non-profit California Maternal Mental Health Collaborative.

How they are making a difference:

• Raising awareness through education: through certified training programs and educating medical and hospital professionals about maternal mental illnesses.

• Educating Moms with information on symptoms and triggers to help them identify the issue and seek help sooner than later.

• Connecting with the community – spotlighting the issue, encouraging Moms to come forward and share their stories.

The month of May is International Maternal Mental Health Awareness month and we are joining the 2020 Mom Project campaign in an urgent national call to action that sets forth an aggressive new path for solving what some have called one of the biggest public health concerns of our time: the silent maternal mental health crisis which impacts up to 20% of expecting and new moms.

Lets support them and join the conversation by simply sharing this blog post (click SHARE at the bottom of this page), “Like” them on FB, and post a tweet of your support. Click the tweet below and you will automatically be taken to Twitter. (Must have a Twitter account.)

Tweet: I am joining the @2020MomProject to help raise awareness of maternal mental health issues. http://ctt.ec/c3ndt+ #MomsMatter

We truly believe that this is a much needed national call to action that we can all contribute to!

#MomsMatter