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If you need help, please call or text our Peer Support Line at (415) 320-6707. We are here for you 7 days a week.
We lead a community effort to prevent suffering and mental health complications in expectant and new parents and their children.
Postpartum Support Center (PPSC) is a community-based nonprofit organization founded in 2019 by a mother who severely suffered from maternal mental health complications in Marin County. Maternal Mental Health Disorders are a common public health problem with serious and long-lasting consequences for the entire family. Unfortunately, not just mothers are affected. Children are at increased risk for cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems. PPSC provides free evidence-based programs and services concentrating on the well-being of women, their partners, children, and support teams, including:
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Maternal Mental Health Peer Support Services: support line, peer counseling, support groups
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ROSE (Reach Out Stay Strong Essentials for mothers of newborns): a program that prevents postpartum depression
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Marin Diaper Bank: provides free diapers and other basic necessities to local children in need
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PPSC provides information, resources, referrals, self-screening mental health assessments, and advocacy.
PPSC partners with local hospitals, clinics, local providers, and community organizations to bring our services to the perinatal families in need.
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COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT
We invite you to participate in one of our Community Service Projects.
MOM TO MOM - PEER COUNSELING
Schedule a call/texting to talk to one of our Peers at a time that works best for you.
MENTAL HEALTH SELF-SCREENING ASSESMENTS
Take self-assessment to help find out whether you’re showing any of the warning signs of mental illness.
ABOUT PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH
Learn more about Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs), signs and risk factors, treatment options, etc.
OUR STORY - Birth of the PPSC
Founder and Executive Director shares her personal story that inspired her to create PPSC.
WHY NEW PARENTS NEED SUPPORT?
Women face unique physiological demands from pregnancy, labor and delivery, and recovery, while also typically doing most of the child-rearing and housework. New mothers run an increased risk of developing Postpartum Depression and Anxiety through exposure to chronic stress, decreased social support, and the fast pace of modern life.
Many women enter motherhood without a support system in place.
Developmental scientists consider parenthood one of the biggest transitions in life—one that changes the brains, endocrine systems, behaviors, identities, and relationships. Without support, relationships can be strained to the brink, and depression and anxiety can set in.
The effects of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders are wide-reaching. They affect the mother, partner, child, extended family, workplace, community, etc. Perinatal Mental Health Disorders can have a ripple effect on society in addition to their effects on the parent, who is often suffering in isolation and often without information, resources, understanding, or help. Some of the societal impacts of PMADs include:
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Breakdowns in marriages/relationships
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Family conflicts
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Interruption of attachment between parent and child
Studies show that when a child is exposed to conflict in the home a range of issues can later develop, including drug/alcohol addiction, learning difficulties, mental illness, suicide, and delinquency.
Fatherhood is a time of major adjustment in many different ways: one's identity, responsibilities, routines, and relationships may all change. This adjustment period brings stress which, when it builds up, can put dad's mental health at risk.
Since partners don’t experience all the physical changes of pregnancy and childbirth, they may not begin to really feel like a parent until after the baby’s birth. This can be especially true if they are in a same-sex relationship, using a surrogate or adopting.
Often, partners feel like they don’t ‘fit in’ with the pregnancy experience, given that so much of the attention is focused on the pregnant woman. This can be a real struggle for partners, leaving some feeling left out of the experience.
