JENNIFER MUDD HOUGHTALING
POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION FOUNDATION

In, 2001 my dear daughter, Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling, lost her battle with postpartum depression.  My husband and I knew that we had to do something to make it less likely that others would suffer Jennifer's fate.  Working with Evanston Northwestern Hospital, we established the Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling Postpartum Depression Program at the hospital, offering prenatal and postnatal screenings, education programs for health care professionals and a 24-hour crisis line for new mothers.

But one program at one hospital is not enough.  Our experience in Evanston taught us that screenings, education programs and help lines ought to be available to women at other hospitals.  We also realized that more could be done to get information about postpartum depression to both potential victims and health care professionals.  In 2004 we established the Jennifer Mudd Houghtaling Postpartum Depression Foundation to encourage and assist hospitals in creating effective programs to identify and treat postpartum depression sufferers and to add new public education efforts.  The Foundation is dedicated to educating the public and health care professionals about the symptoms, dangers and treatments for postpartum depression and promoting effective screening and rapid response treatments for mental health complications associated with childbearing.

Our programs fall into three categories:  public education; education of health care providers; and advocacy and support for improved screening and treatment practices.  We will work hands-on with hospitals and medical practices in the Chicago area to establish comprehensive programs in their institutions.  We have been instrumental in offering Grand Rounds presentations in postpartum depression at the following hospitals: Mercy Hospital, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Illinois Masonic Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital and Northwestern Hospital.

  -  Joan Mudd

"She Had a Heart as Big as the Moon and Pure as Gold" 

a Memoir by Linley George Othman