By Kenny Walter
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN- A young mother is hoping to raise money and inspire new mothers to get help when they need it.
Jessica Montalto is hoping several other mothers suffering from Postpartum Depression (PPD) join Postpartum Progress Climb Out of the Darkness Walk on June 18 at Thompson Park in Middletown.
Montalto, who has suffered from PPD since giving birth to her son Luca on Feb. 11 2015, is helping to raise money and awareness for both the walk and a support group that meets twice a week at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.
She said the hope is that many mothers seek help if they may be suffering from PPD.
“It was awkward for me to tell people about it because there is such a stigma, but my whole theory was, talking about it and telling people about it, helps break the stigma,” Montalto said. “I think the biggest fear with postpartum depression is people think their baby is going to get taken away from them.
“I think also the stigma is people with postpartum depression want to hurt their child and that’s not the case. I don’t think people realize how common it is, one in seven women have postpartum depression, that is a pretty high percentage.”
The Climb Out of the Darkness Walk, which began in 2013, is a one-mile walk that takes place all over the globe. To donate or register to walk at Thompson Park, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/lisabicknellmadden-cotd2016.
Montalto said the walk can be a changing experience for many new mothers.
“People get up and tell their stories there and it is great to see all these women surviving after having a baby,” she said. “I want the walk to be as big as any other successful walk because this is an important illness.
“It doesn’t take people’s lives but it can. You save a mom you save a baby.”
Montalto also said she hopes to bring new mothers to the support group, which meets every Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“This is really the only group around here for people with Postpartum Depression and I just want the recognition that there is a place to go if you have a baby and are feeling alone and that you are having this horrible thoughts that people don’t understand,” she said. “This group is filled with women who do understand these thoughts and have gotten these thoughts.”
According to Montalto, the symptoms for PPD began for her when she was nearing the end of her pregnancy as she became more conscience about her weight.
“Having gained the weight, put a lot of angst on me and I was kind of ridiculed for my weight in a joking way,” she said. “I think it added to the onset of the postpartum depression, which can come in the third trimester of the pregnancy.”
Following the birth of Luca and before being discharged from the hospital, Montalto answered a 10-question survey called the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, aimed at calculating the odds a mother would be susceptible to PPD.
Montalto said it is a flawed system because often mothers are still under the effects of drugs shortly after giving birth and may not answer the questions honestly due to fear that the hospital may not let them leave.
However, after giving birth, she was overwhelmed by the lack of sleep, a full-body rash and pressures of being a new mother, and within months, she began having suicidal thoughts, which she conveyed to her husband, Michael.
“I thought he would be better off and everyone would be better off if I wasn’t here,” Montalto said. “I felt like he deserved better, and for no reason other than it was in my head, that it was my own worst enemy.
“I felt like a prisoner in my body, it was almost like I was screaming on the inside.”
She said after a few weeks of suicidal thoughts, Montalto decided to seek help in the form of the support group at Monmouth Medical Center and a therapy appointment.
Montalto said the support group helped and she was prescribed an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drug, which she said she took off and on for several months.
“I didn’t take it regularly for a few months and then I took it religiously because I didn’t want to go back down to where I was,” she said.
After getting on a more consistent regiment with medication, Montalto then decided to take a more active role in the support group and began helping others who may also be suffering.
“I felt in December that I had not been cured but I had it under control where I could live a normal life and so they had started a mentorship program within the group,” she said.
For more information or to join the support group please contact Lisa Tremayne at (732) 923-5573.