Vulnerable Women

Dragon Mood? -- sad

I meant to post about this Thursday. There was a front-page article in the Detroit Free Press about a schoolteacher named Mary Ellen Moffitt, a very successful woman by all accounts, who smothered her five-week old child and then, herself, as a result of severe post-partum depression. It was an incredibly sad and poignant report.

Then I had checked in at dooce, a young woman's account of her life, particularly with the birth of her first child, Leta. This young mother, Heather, is a truly gifted writer and an incredibly funny one at that. Her writing is fresh and smart and frequently has me not only chuckling, but laughing out loud. Thursday, she wrote to say that she would be away for awhile as she was checking into a psychiatric facility for severe post-partum depression. I just checked again this morning and her husband, Jon, has this update, (thankfully upbeat).

Oh my God. What is going on? Is this some tragic, scary coincidence or are there a lot of vulnerable child-bearing women out there? Is this a new health risk for women having children --or-- is this being more openly reported (finally)?