Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2021

www. Char l es tonWomen . com | www. Char l es tonWomenPodcas t . com | www. ReadCW. com CW Mental Health in Mothers Getting the Support You NeedWhen Things Aren’t OK A n abundance of care is provided to women when they are pregnant. As a vessel for human life, pregnant women are placed under the .microscope for the better part of nine months, only to be released after labor and delivery. But what a person goes through to bring life into this world is no small task, and while a mom’s immediate physical needs are met in the hospital, her mental health is often never properly evaluated. A mother’s mental wellbeing is all too often overlooked when it should be a primary concern and focus for several months after she has given birth. Gabrielle Yarborough first noticed a change within her mental health when she returned to her job three months after her daughter, Emerson, was born. “Two weeks into work, and I thought I was doing great, until I wasn’t,” Yarborough recalled. What started as migraines manifested itself into a panic attack that forced her to seek professional medical attention. “I loved my job, but my routine was now all about the baby, work, shower, repeat — and honestly, personal care, I realized, had stopped too,” Yarborough explained. She didn’t want to notice the signs within herself, but, looking back, she is able to see just how challenging the immediate life change was for her mentally. She remembers being asked only at her six- BY J ENNY HARR I SON