Maryland’s Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2019 - 7

WHEN IT'S MORE
THAN JUST THE

"BABY BLUES"
UM UPPER CHESAPEAKE WOMEN'S CARE IS MAKING CARE FOR WOMEN'S
MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE ISSUES A PRIORITY

O

n her second day home after giving birth to her first child in 2012,

MEETING THE NEED

Christina Jones* sat in a rocking chair, shook her head furiously and cried

What about women who don't know

to her husband that she couldn't "do this." Instantly overwhelmed by the

how to get help? Should they simply

changes that came along with having a baby, Jones felt as though she was phys-

call their OB-GYN? And what about

ically separated from her body. Where was she? How could she escape from this

new moms who don't fully understand

life as a mom? Would she ever feel "normal" again? "Even eating had become a

what to call their issue-or even realize

chore," Jones recalls. "My hands would visibly shake at the dinner table."

it's more than the "baby blues"-much
like Jones felt with her first child? More

a tailspin, resulting in ruined bath- and

importantly, what about those wives

acclimated to her family of three. But

bedtime. It was a vicious cycle that only

whose husbands and families don't

instead of feeling sad and depressed,

subsided for a short time, until these

offer support, so they feel embarrassed

she now felt anxious all the time. "When

issues recurred with the birth of her

to admit they need help? The stigma

I woke in the mornings, my heart would

second child three years later.

surrounding these issues often causes

In the months to come, Jones slowly

race in fear as I waited for my daughter's

But when Jones' second daughter

them to suffer in silence.

first cry to start the day," Jones says.

was born, she was a little wiser and

She would have near panic attacks when

braver. "This time, soon after the baby

a behavioral health consultant with UM

running errands with a fussy baby. And

was born, I didn't hesitate to call my

Upper Chesapeake Women's Care. Two

she would race from work to day care

doctor and cry to him on the phone,"

years ago, Dr. Buckingham's position

each evening in fear that running even

she says. "I knew I needed help, and I

was created because of the high need

a minute late would send her child into

wasn't ashamed to ask for it."

for mental health and substance use

*Not her real name.

Enter Kimberly Buckingham, PsyD,

umuch.org | Spring 2019

 7
http://www.umuch.org
Maryland’s Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland’s Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2019
