With the big stories in the news lately of women doing harm, and sometimes killing, their children, a Crisis Nursery in CA is trying to reach out to mothers who are suffering from PPD and don't know where to turn for parenting relief. I just read an article about a woman who apparently drowned her 8-day-old daughter and how this particular Crisis Nursery in Sacramento is speaking out about their resources.
I had never thought about crisis nurseries as an option for women who are suffering from PPD. I guess I'd envisioned battered and/or homeless or drug-addicted women as needing that kind of assistance. A temporary safe haven for their kids, to keep them safe. But I can see how a crisis nursery would be just as helpful to a mom who is at the end of her rope, suffering from PPD and without family in town or friends available to help out. I just read about a local crisis nursery here in Arizona, just out of curiosity, and it said that they provide day and night care for babies and children and that they can stay there for up to 30 days. This type of respite care would enable a mom to focus on getting the resources she needs to get herself well.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a centralized, national number to call to find a local crisis nursery in one's area, but it looks like they're fairly easy to find by state. It sounds like they could be a tremendous resource for women with PPD in need of help, but I just hope that women aren't put off by thinking that crisis nurseries are only for cases of abuse. Hopefully crisis nurseries around the country will follow suit and do what the one in CA is doing: reaching out more to let women with PPD know they're there.