Sarah Ornst Bloomquist - Mom's Mental Health Initiative

In this episode of Quiet Connection, I connect with Sarah Ornst Bloomquist, co-founder of Moms Mental Health Initiative, about her personal journey through  PMADS, the impact of societal expectations on new parents, and the critical need for systemic changes in maternal mental health care. We discuss the importance of support systems, the need for better awareness and resources for new parents, and the mission of the Moms Mental Health Initiative to improve access to care and provide peer support.

To learn more about Sarah, Visit the Mom's Mental Health Initiative Website or their Instagram!

Takeaways

• You don't need perfection to be a good parent.
• Your voice matters and you know yourself.
• Postpartum mental health issues are often overlooked.
• Support systems are crucial for recovery.
• Time is both an enemy and a friend in healing.
• Peer support can provide hope and connection.
• Navigators are needed to help parents find care.
• Screening for mental health should be frequent and thorough.
• Access to care is a significant barrier for many.
• Advocacy is essential for systemic change in maternal health.

Sound Bites

"You are proof that it does get better."
"We treat new parents so badly."
"We need a system of follow-up care."

Transcript

Chelsea (00:01)
Welcome to Quiet Connection, a podcast dedicated to ending the stigma around postpartum mental health. I'm Chelsea. In today's episode, I'm connecting with Sarah, co -founder of Moms Mental Health Initiative. She shares her personal experiences with PMADS and how physically and mentally debilitating they were. She also discusses how MMHI was born from a storm and the ways in which it is supporting birthing people in their own mental health storms.

Sarah.

Chelsea (00:33)
Hello! Today I'm here with Sarah. Sarah, how are you?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (00:37)
I am well today. Thank you.

Chelsea (00:41)
Well, I think is a term. I like that better than I'm good or I'm great. It's a little more, it feels a little more accurate. Sarah, I would love it if you could sort of introduce yourself to my listeners and also let me know who you were before you were a mom.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (01:02)
Well, my name is Sarah Ornst Blomquist and I am the co -founder and executive director of Moms Mental Health Initiative, which we launched in March of 2016. I am a mother of two. I have a 16 year old and an 11 year old. And I also have two dogs who are

Chelsea (01:29)
You

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (01:30)
their rescues, their neurotic rescues. So they just join in on the whole mental health, you know, smorgasbord that goes on in our house. So and who I was before I was a mom.

Chelsea (01:43)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (01:51)
I was way more uptight. did you want to go that route? Way more uptight and intense and controlling. I worked just in the helping professions, life coaching, worked in nonprofit programs, in advocacy, and

Chelsea (01:54)
You

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (02:15)
Yeah, I mean I just kind of enjoyed meeting friends at coffee shops and taking hikes and I play soccer. I do that now. I did it before I the baby. Babies. Took a while to get back into it after I had babies. But, so yeah, that's me.

Chelsea (02:29)
Ha ha ha ha!

Yeah. I absolutely love what you're doing with Moms Mental Health Initiative. That is sort of how we got connected. There was a social media post that I interacted with and I'm so glad that I did because I've got to learn more about you and what you guys are doing and we'll definitely get into that. But

want to focus a little bit on your parenting journey, was being a parent something that was always a priority for you?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (03:10)
say it was always a priority. I mean, I think I saw it in my future, but I wasn't, you know, looking at baby registries before I even knew I was pregnant. wasn't, you know, it was, it was just kind of like when the desire outweighed the fear then of having a child, then we started to try and it didn't take long. And

Chelsea (03:24)
you

Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (03:37)
Yeah, and there's other factors like health insurance and having coverage and all that, but I wouldn't say my main motivation in life was to be a parent. Like I remember a friend when we were camp counselors saying like, I'm just built to be a mom. Like that's just what I'm meant to do and be. And I was like, I do not identify with that.

Chelsea (04:01)
Yeah, yeah, no, I feel that. I waffled a lot in my young adult years between like, yeah, I want to do this mom thing to like, I could take it or leave it. So you did, you had two kids who are now old enough to where you are getting to explore parts of yourself that you haven't been able to for a while.

But way back then, when they were little and brand new, what was that transition into parenting like for you?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (04:30)
Yeah, I mean, for me, I had postpartum depression and anxiety issues. So that was like the first part of my transition and it was awful and horrible. And we can talk more about that later. But there was a really awful way to walk into parenthood. And then, you know,

It's very all consuming when they're little. And I think with one, my kids are about four and a half years apart. And so I just had one and it was definitely doable.

I think the hard part for me was like not having choice on my time, like losing like, I just want to lay down for a minute or I want to do this. Like you lose choice in what you want, you know. It's just very consuming. And then the second came along and

I that's your life, that's everything. And it's not a complaint, you you just kind of surrender to that. And there are many seasons of life that go on. But I think, like I remember, I was in a mom's club and we would all meet with our...

little kids and then when school started and those of us who had kids going.

to start school, all the moms would meet for coffee in the morning. And there's a bunch of us who are like, we can't wait to be part of that crew where we can meet for coffee in the morning. I we still had little ones at home. I send my older one to school, but I still had another one. And just the longing to be able to be with.

Chelsea (06:12)
Hahaha

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (06:28)
your peers and not have children around. So, it's a lot. Like I said, it's all consuming. I had an aunt say, know, I just finally just surrendered to it. And when you can accept that that's what this is right now, it makes it a lot easier. But, mean, it's exhausting.

Chelsea (06:52)
I do, I want to highlight when you add it on the end, that's what it's like right now, or that's what it's like. It is constantly evolving and it's constantly changing. And when you're in the thick of it, it's really hard to see that.

But yeah, like that longing to almost like graduate to the next step, like graduate to the next mom's group. I can relate to that. And a lot of our listeners, it's interesting. A lot of our listeners are in the thick of things, brand new, going through PMADS or are sort of like...

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (07:13)
Right. Right.

Chelsea (07:32)
just trying to figure themselves out after just having a baby. And then we have a big group of listeners who are where you're at now. And going back and like, yeah, I did feel that way. And yeah, that makes so much more sense. But keeping in mind like, this is a season. It's always a season. Everything is a season. Thinking back to your season of experiencing P -Mads,

I don't even know how I want to begin with that. Did you have an understanding of what perinatal mood and anxiety disorders were before you experienced them?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (08:07)
Not really. I had a history already of mental health challenges, like some anxiety and depression, very episodic, like just episodes of it when I went off to college and things like that.

And then I didn't really expect anything to happen when I was having, gonna have a baby. Like I wanted to have my baby, I planned this. I kind of knew a little bit about postpartum depression. Like heard about Brooke Shields. You know, for those of us of a certain age know who that is.

Chelsea (08:39)
Yeah.

I know who Brooke Shields is,

come on.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (08:47)
But no, and there was no discussion about it with my doctor. There was just no mental health history taken.

nothing. And my mom said, well I was a little worried that it might happen, but I didn't want to say anything. And I'm like, I wish you would have, but at same time I don't know if I would have listened to it anyways. But yeah, I had the risk factors. And I had an older sibling, a half sibling, who went through it.

Chelsea (09:02)
Mmm.

Right.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (09:18)
years ago. mean I was a little kid. So that was another risk factor right there but I didn't really... our age difference was so much that I didn't really know much about it and wasn't really discussed. yeah, it was... I was very blindsided.

Chelsea (09:35)
yeah, which I think a lot of, a lot of parents are because it things are shifting. Things are shifting, but it's not talked about. And it wasn't talked about. what were sort of well before I even get to that, how did it sort of manifest for you? What did it look like? Or feel like?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (09:54)
Well,

so I, looking back, I had anxiety in my pregnancy, which some of it was probably common worries. I think some of it was obsessing a little bit more about what kind of mom I would be, would my baby like me, like just this underlying worry and angst.

But for with my first, I mean, it was an acute onset. He came out and I had disturbing thoughts. I was numb. Every time they brought him to me to eat, I would like shake with a panic attack.

I was very, very, it very much hijacked me. And like the anxiety was a bit paralyzing. I did ask my doctor in the hospital, I said, I think I might need some medication. I had been on medication in the past, so I wasn't against taking meds. And I had a friend who started some while she was pregnant.

And so he was like, okay, well, what have you taken? And then he like gave me the lowest dose, which is not a therapeutic dose for me. he's like,

Chelsea (11:11)
Mmm.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (11:16)
don't want to start worrying now because when they're teenagers you gotta deal with and I was like I can't hear that right now. Don't talk to me about when they're teenagers. I can barely grasp the concept that I have a baby right now. And they're like, he was jaundice so.

Chelsea (11:25)
my gosh.

Yeah!

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (11:38)
We had to stay a few extra hours and I was like, do we need to stay overnight? I can stay longer, it's fine. Like I didn't want to go home, nothing. And so when we got home, he came three weeks early, so we weren't fully prepared. And he had to have this billy blanket.

Chelsea (11:43)
you

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (11:56)
that they delivered to us to put on him at night because of his jaundice And they told us how to put it on wrong and it made him uncomfortable and he didn't sleep at all. And then like I'm trying to breastfeed.

And was just awful. And meanwhile, like, I'm dealing with anxiety and the anxiety was manifesting very physically. So I was vomiting with anxiety, diarrhea, couldn't eat.

If I rested, I'd wake up with a panic attack. There's a lot of panic attacks, just burning sensation that came over me and crying, of course, crying all the time and feeling very trapped. Like, I can't get out of this. Like, this is...

I can't go back. I'm stuck with this baby. I I loved him. Like there was no doubt about that, but just feeling like, did I make a mistake? Should I not have done this? Like, my gosh. And my parents were finally able to come after a few days and,

Chelsea (12:50)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (13:11)
Kind of helped me and you know, like my breast milk wasn't coming in I I just wanted to do formula but no one would say that's okay like the pressure to breastfeed and my my doctor was like, I'll support whatever you want. I'm like no tell me what to do like

Chelsea (13:30)
Give me some direction.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (13:32)
Yeah, like the baby was dropping weight so they're having me do like the breast pump putting him on my breast with a tube connected to formula and it was like and you're supposed to sleep then so you know this like and you you start it from when they start feeding not when they end right the like the time frame from when they need to eat next and I'm like I'm not sleeping

I had a aunt who was a pediatrician and I was on the phone with her all the time and she was like, Sarah, just go to formula. It's okay. Your baby will be okay. I'm like, thank you, because I need other people to help feed him. I can't do this. But I ended up, after my parents left,

Chelsea (14:17)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (14:27)
like contacting my doctor. My doctor was out, he was sick, it was like flu season. But going back, I had to take my son back up to the hospital to get his bilirubin checked a couple times and I...

was in the waiting room with my head on my husband's lap and the nurse came to get the baby and I was like, can you please get my doctor? Because something isn't right. Something's just not right. And she looked like a deer in headlights and then she left. And then she came back and she's like, I spoke to the doctor and he just wants you to drink more water. Take some Tylenol.

Chelsea (15:09)
my god.

my god.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (15:11)
know like what's not right but I didn't have the language to tell them what wasn't right you know I didn't have the language to describe what was going on just like this was this was I'm not functioning I am not functioning well here at all so after like around three weeks

Chelsea (15:18)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (15:32)
My parents had left, like they lived, didn't live near us. And like frantically calling my doctor, you know, and I connected to the therapist.

They have a therapist that they recommend, but she was out with pneumonia. It was February, so everyone was sick. And so my doctor's assistant said, are you having thoughts of harm towards yourself or another? And I was like,

Chelsea (15:50)
my god.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (16:03)
know, maybe, kinda. I was just having intrusive thoughts, like these dark thoughts of throwing my baby down the stairs, knowing I wouldn't do it. I'm like, I'm not premeditated, I'm not gonna do this, but I didn't trust myself. I would tell my husband, like, you need to take the baby, I'm having weird thoughts. But like, who wants to admit that? And so then she was like, okay, I want you to go to the crisis center. So then I'm like, okay, I'll go to the crisis

Chelsea (16:13)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (16:33)
center and one of the reasons why I was so willing to go was because another mom that I heard of through a friend told me that she had gone at six months postpartum for depression. I'm like, well if this lady went I'll go.

And so I just talked to the social worker there and then she came back. She's like, I talked to the psych and he wants you to increase your medication and And we're gonna have this person call you and.

That was basically it. Like I didn't see the psych. And I'm like, so I'm supposed to increase my meds without a script? Like you're not giving me? So then I'm standing there in the lobby at the crisis center like, you can go home now. And I'm like, I don't want to go home. I want to stay. Like, I can't do this.

Chelsea (17:16)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (17:31)
And so the social workers like who could you stay with somebody and so I stayed with my in -laws and my husband kept the baby for the night. And then the next day my I called my

Doctor's assistant because he was still sick and so she called my primary and said Sarah's coming in for this She's gonna need medication blah blah blah like just and so I got that appointment right away and then They had

someone named Birdie called me and I'm sure you know who Birdie might be from post... You don't? Okay, so Birdie at the time, I think she was president of Postpartum Support International. But she lived where I lived in Indianapolis. And so they, she called me and she just said, you know, what some people do is they take meds, you know, and kind of gave...

Chelsea (18:08)
don't! No!

Okay.

Okay.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (18:31)
me a rundown, not telling me what to do but just like what other people have done. And then she's like come to my support group tomorrow or Thursday or something, whatever day it was. So I went to my primary and he was like first had to make sure I wasn't a drug addict.

Chelsea (18:36)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (18:54)
asking for this medication and then he's like I think you have fibromyalgia and I'm like I'm three weeks postpartum like I'm not sleeping I'm achy like it just but he prescribed the stuff that I needed to help and then you know I had an SSRI

Chelsea (19:05)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (19:16)
but that takes a long time to kick in and it was starting to kick in a little bit. And then he did give me the benzos that I took scheduled to help combat the panic attacks. And so then my mom was able to come back and be with me for a week.

Chelsea (19:18)
Yes.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (19:36)
And my dad was elderly and he couldn't really be by himself and they were on they spent a few months in Florida. So my oldest sister went and stayed with him for a while so my mom could come back and then she took me and my son back to where they were because like I needed to be with somebody. and

Birdie did connect me to a psych NP who was familiar with this so I got to meet with her and she was regulating my meds and then she was like, you can call me and then I don't think I saw the therapist but I talked to her on the phone and she was like, feel free to call me while you're down there and I did. And I went through some other, met with some counselors and some spiritual advisors down there and.

So I was with my parents for about two and a half weeks and slowly started to feel better and my husband came and then I was able to go back home and it took like a good year to really feel back to normal, whatever that is.

Chelsea (20:46)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (20:47)
but it was like just this prolonged process where I wasn't being heard. And I felt like I was screaming, help me, but people weren't taking the time to say, okay, help you with what? Let's figure out what's going on here. And meanwhile, I have, you know.

a two week old, a three week old who I love and like it pains me to think about even now that that was feeling that way when he was a little baby. know, but in one provider's like, did you even want children? And I'm like, yes. And so I went.

Chelsea (21:22)
Yeah.

my gosh.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (21:32)
called my brother and I'm like crying and he's like, yes you wanted children. Like, I'm go kabosh on that. I mean, it just like the messaging did not help. And then I had it with my daughter, but it was very different. So with my daughter...

Chelsea (21:39)
Yeah!

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (21:54)
I had everything in place. I was on meds. I had a psychiatrist. I had a therapist. My OB was fantastic. mean he like took all these notes on my prior experience. And my pregnancy was good. I just didn't have that anxiety. And I had, when I had her it went well and

Yeah, and I had a specific plan, and I was like, first I know things can happen during my labor and delivery, so I'm not gonna be so specific. I cannot have this done, and it has to be like this. I understand, you just don't know what you're gonna get when you're going to labor. But I was like, I want my baby put on me right away, because I don't think I got that with my son. And I had a very strict

Chelsea (22:37)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (22:46)
postpartum plan and my postpartum plan was my baby will go to the nursery all night and my doctor will prescribe a sleeping pill and so like My doctor and my psych they're all in like cahoots together like they all Kind of work together on that and I was like I need my full night's sleep both nights like no if ands or buts

And I I'm like, I wrote this down and I was also working at a pregnancy center, like teaching some pregnant, childbirth classes and, and then my one nurse is like, well, you know, if you don't like,

if you send the baby to the nursery, could affect your milk. And I'm like, no, like stop second guessing me. Like what does it take for me to be listened to? Like I know myself, I know my body. And I was like, I know it could affect my milk, but that's the risk I'm going to take. Because I...

Chelsea (23:36)
Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (23:55)
have to have this sleep in order to be able to function. And my OB was like, your milk will be fine, send the baby to the nursery. You know, it just, like, I had full support of my medical team.

Chelsea (24:06)
Yeah, yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (24:10)
But when I got home, was almost like a PTSD, like your cells kind of remember, and the anxiety started hitting. so I got a hold of my psychiatrist, and I think she was gone. So there was another psychiatrist, and they prescribed me an additional med.

Chelsea (24:18)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (24:32)
that always just works very fast for me. And she was like, are you having intrusive thoughts? I'm like, maybe a little bit. She goes, you know, I think a lot of moms do. And that was really nice for her to say in here. so then I felt good. know, like a week after I was bonded with my baby, like even in pregnancy.

Chelsea (24:50)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (24:58)
and all that. But then after a couple months I started to get a little jittery and a little off and what was happening was my two meds were having like an interaction.

Chelsea (25:12)
Mm.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (25:13)
And so my psych was like, well, maybe we just don't need that one anymore. Like you're doing well. But I did need it. I just needed it with a different, other different med. And so I started slowly falling into depression and that...

Chelsea (25:22)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (25:29)
It was a time when the Newtown shootings, shooting happened at the schools in Connecticut. And like that triggered me so badly. And then I was supposed to start back at work and I just called my boss from the parking lot at Target crying and I was like, can't, I can't do this. I can't come in. And so then I was going through all that again. So then I had to like,

Chelsea (25:34)
Yup.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (25:56)
figure out meds and so she switched me back to my old med that I used to be on and she's like well we'll try this and we'll try that and I

could not take care of my baby. So my husband was with our 4 -year -old. I went and stayed with my parents. They helped with the baby. Like, I couldn't handle hearing her cry without going into panic. Like, picking her up, I just, you know, I was so fully bonded with this baby and then all of a sudden, like, I couldn't handle her. And I finally said, I need, can I go stay with

my sister, because they were empty nesters, and she had been through it, and I'm like, I need...

to be away. And that's what I did for three days while they adjusted my medications and tried to figure out. then I was able, then I slowly, I started to get better a lot faster once they got the medication correct. And of course, I'm dealing with a therapist and all of that at the same time. But I'm like on the floor of the bathroom crying and my 82 year old dad is sitting next to me while he's talking to my therapist.

Chelsea (27:00)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, that's an interesting, that's a, it's a dynamic you don't expect, for sure. Well, and so much of what you...

have shared about your story resonates with me personally. And this is your time and this is your story, but something that I think, I mean, we are talking more and more about PMADS in general, and that's obviously like the focus of this podcast, but I think what doesn't get talked about...

enough is the physical side of mental health disorders. And hearing you talk about how physically sick you were, like that was me. That was the throwing up, the not being able to eat, the not being able to sleep because you wake up in a cold sweat panicking, heart racing. And I think when you aren't familiar with, and even if you are, even if have a history of mental health, you still are like, what

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (27:52)
you

Chelsea (28:09)
happening to me? What is this? And you were, especially with your first pregnancy and delivery, like you were completely disregarded. They did not listen. No one was listening to you.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (28:13)
Right.

Chelsea (28:24)
And that resonates with me as well. And I think it resonates with a lot of new moms. Like we're often told like, you're not drinking enough water. You're not getting enough rest, this, that, and the other thing. And you're like, no, something is wrong. Something is very wrong. then what I heard you say in both circumstances is that time is what eventually got you through it.

and while that's really hard for a lot of new parents to hear, it also is the truest fact and the most common thread with all of us. and no shame in the med game. I like, but it sucks having to be like, well, okay, let's try this. This didn't work.

Okay, let's try this. This didn't work. So time is our enemy and our friend in this process. But you are proof that it does get better. It does get better. it sounds like you had a really great support system.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (29:20)
does.

I mean my family was fantastic. mean and and it saddens me how many people don't have that support from their family. Or I had support from my employer like people don't get that. They...it... We just treat...we treat new parents so badly.

Chelsea (29:28)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes. I mean, we talk about the mental health crisis and then obviously like you and I are focused very primarily on maternal mental health and perinatal mental health. But like just support in general for families, what an impact that would make on the outcomes of these mental health struggles. Having better...

family leave, having, support and understanding in terms of just mental health disorders in general and seeking help and resources for getting the help and, it's a mess. It's a whole big mess, but you're trying to change that. can you talk to me a little bit about

actually before we even get to that you mentioned talking to someone from Postpartum Support International which is like the leading go -to for postpartum mental health disorders I did not know it existed until after I had my second child and was I mean I was very very sick so

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (30:45)
either.

Chelsea (30:52)
Did you know of any resources or were you it sounds like you were just begging for - yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (30:56)
No. So I didn't

know any resources and like I was watching, I think I was like pumping milk and watching Tyra Banks and they had like three guests who were dealing with postpartum depression. And I was like, I remember that. Like, wow. And then.

I knew about Brooke Shields, so my mom bought me the book and it was like racing to the end of the book. When do you get better? When did she get better? All I want to know is will I get better and when will I get better? And every single day you're questioning yourself multiple times a day. Will I feel better? Am I feeling better? Am I feeling better now? Will I get better? And that's all I heard. I had no idea about PSI. But luckily I was in the state,

Chelsea (31:27)
Right? Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (31:47)
in a city where one of the the president of PSI was living and but no I mean this was 16 years ago yeah

Chelsea (31:53)
Yeah.

No. you still though, I know that's not,

it seems like such a long time ago. I think I might be in denial about that though. 16 years ago, I was, I was in college, but I still feel like I'm 16 years old. So yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (32:17)
I know. I am wondering

when we feel... when do ever feel like an adult?

Chelsea (32:24)
I literally am still like, where is the adult in the room? it's me? crap. That's me. But yeah, 16 years really.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (32:27)
Yeah.

Right.

Chelsea (32:35)
in the grand scheme of things is not that long ago and to know that then you weren't aware of resources and today there are still people that like that think that there's something seriously wrong with them alone and that they're alone because they don't know. They don't know about PSI. They don't know about mom's mental health initiative. They don't know about the blue dot project.

So this is like, this is what we're out here trying to talk about. I guess jumping ahead, like how you said you used to work a lot in advocacy work and nonprofit. When did the shift begin into perinatal mental health?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (33:22)
Well, I was working in crisis pregnancy and there was an organization called Postpartum Progress that was national and they had an event called Climb Out of the Darkness. So this was before PSI absorbed it. So, and...

By then I'd been out of, I was already in recovery, I had recovered and somebody in my was heading up a Climb Out of Darkness team. So Climb Out of Darkness was a day dedicated to, you you'd hike, it was on the longest day of the year, and it was to raise, you know, money and funds for...

postpartum progress for this organization. So she was doing a climb and I was like, I'm joining on and a few other ladies joined on. Just discovered it through some Facebook group. so then we became friends and we started a little Facebook group for all of us.

So we could just stay connected and meet and then she and I would talk and she's like, I think we need more advocacy work done and you just had something you think you would like to head up a little bit. I was like, yeah, definitely. And then honestly, it's such a blur. I don't know how we get to the point of starting MMHI, but...

We were kind of working on this plan of what we wanted to do and we got in touch with...

The she was the executive director of all the birth hospitals here and she's really passionate about mental health and she had some I believe community funds available because they were going to be going through like a merger soon and so she's like I like to see this happen and here's some money to help jumpstart that and so

We're sitting here trying to figure out this organization we want to start. And then my co -founder was pregnant during that. I had recently lost my mother. And my father was in a nursing home. And then she had her baby.

And then with like, it was her second and then in six weeks she started going through postpartum anxiety. So we're like doing, building this organization during all of this. And she, like her baby was colicky and liked to be in a baby carrier and she just wasn't that comfortable with the baby carrier. So we would work on the computer and website stuff and all that. And I'm holding her baby.

Chelsea (36:06)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (36:25)
in the baby carrier, you know, and so much of it's a blur. then we launched and there was a newspaper article that came out in like the Sunday Journal about postpartum depression and my old employer connected this reporter to me because they were looking for information on that and he ended up doing like the story on me.

And we were like, well, we better get launched when this comes out, because he's going to mention this organization, right? So that's how we launched. And it a labor of love for many, many years. But ultimately, we wanted to improve access to evidence -based treatment and peer support. We just felt it was so hard to get the right help.

Chelsea (37:06)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (37:19)
So hard. So what could we do to help make that easier? And one of that was finding providers that understood perinatal mental health disorders and understood the need to get someone seen urgently. And we created a preferred provider list.

so people could reach out to us and we could make warm handoffs. And then we had an online peer support group for perinatal people struggling through one of these conditions. And this was mostly southeastern Wisconsin. So yeah, that's really how it ignited.

Chelsea (38:08)
It kind of like was born in a storm a little bit.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (38:12)
It was, yeah, I mean, I think anything around these conditions is a perfect storm. think like when you have your baby, it's a perfect storm for one of these conditions to develop. There's so many factors. And then here, yeah, it was definitely born out of the storm. Maybe my dad died then, like a year into launching MMHI and...

And I was helping some of the care with him. So, like, a lot of grief, dealing with a lot of grief.

managing my children's grief and so wasn't wasn't easy that's why a lot of it is a blur

Chelsea (38:56)
Yeah,

I can imagine. Yeah. So talk to me about what MMHI is up to today. When I stumbled upon you, you guys were looking for survivor stories. And that's just one thing that you're doing. But talk to me about your outreach and what you're doing these days.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (39:03)
No.

We have three pillars that we focus on in helping navigate these conditions, helping people navigate these conditions. And one is information sharing. And so this really incorporates us coming to the community, to public health, to the health care system.

Making sure people have a basic understanding of these conditions, but also knowing the patient perspective, knowing the parent perspective. What does it look like? What do they need? How, you know, how do you approach this? We also do a lot of social media work. So making sure accurate information is being shared.

making sure that some of the work around policy, everything is being shared. So there's like different facets of the social media.

And you know, we do consulting, like helping, like do some work with the Department of Health Services with their maternal child department, working with different local and tribal health departments on their perinatal mental health screening objectives, working a little bit with WIC on their screening around perinatal mental health. So a lot of

that type of work is in that information sharing. Because we just saw so much misinformation out there and you know make a post and you get well I tried this and it was great for me and like I'm sorry like I I think that

I'm not trying to put down essential oils, but for some people, essential oil isn't gonna cut it.

Chelsea (41:12)
Yeah, I can't

tell you how many friends reached out and they when I was and they're like, have you tried peppermint oil for your nausea and lavender for your insomnia? And I'm like, I don't think that there is an oil in existence that can solve what I'm going through. I love essential oils. but yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (41:35)
Yeah, and there's a role. And we

have different tools, but certain tools sometimes need to come before so we can access our other tools. so that's one, that information sharing and making sure it's accurate.

Chelsea (41:44)
Yes. Yes.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (41:52)
And then we have our resource brokering. we continually build our network of preferred providers. So psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, MDs, know, primary doctors, psych NPs, who we screen and vet to make sure that they are trustworthy, that they understand these conditions, they know how to treat them, and they understand the urgency of somebody getting

treatment and whether they can't see them, they make a qualified referral, refer back to us. Like we really work hard to make sure people are getting access to care quickly. Because by the time someone actually reaches out for help, like they're in a bad place. Like it's rare for us to be like, I'm feeling a twinge of anxiety. I should reach out. I mean, it's like a slow build and I'll say it just full blowing in your face.

And so we're able to connect or people can go on our website and they can filter themselves for a provider And then we do peer support so Our resource brokering is a form of peer support when people reach out to us. It's it's you know, okay Let's figure out what next steps you need You are not alone

Yes, I struggled out with that too when I was going through it But you know what works for me or what works for some moms is connecting with a therapist Have you spoken to your doctor? Okay This is what I recommend asking your doctor so a lot of peer support that way and then we have an online peer support group called circle of hope that you can only be added by an admin and

There's no medical advice. There's no...

Diagnosing it's really just that peer support. It's monitored But it's you know, I have these meds in my hand and I'm scared to take them and someone might respond like I was too, but I'm so glad I did and Just a lot of great just it's amazing like the power of peer support how? having somebody else who gets it and knows what you're going through and seeing others get better and

and just being like, thank you, I'm so glad I'm not the only one. It's another evidence -based treatment and it can help people stick with their treatment plan, not give up hope. Because the one thing that these conditions do is they try to destroy hope and it's very difficult to see an ounce of hope.

you feel lost to yourself and they attack the core of what you know a core of your identity and being a parent and so having others help provide that hope and see that hope for you is is crucial to your recovery.

Chelsea (45:00)
Yeah,

absolutely. And that's what we're all about. That's what Quiet Connection is all about. That whole you are not alone thing. Because you do, you feel completely alone. You feel completely alone and like, yeah, you're the only person in the world, but you're not. And there is hope.

So you're doing so much. You're doing so much in the world of perinatal mental health. Like you said, the pillars of MMH, I can't even say it, MMHI.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (45:29)
huh.

Chelsea (45:30)
it's a mouthful. You're doing so much. What... This is a big question. What do you think still needs to change? Or if we get super specific, what would be like your top three big things that need to change and need to happen now in the world of perinatal mental health?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (45:32)
Yes.

yeah.

Wow. I mean.

This really comes down to a systems level issue. We are full of silos in our healthcare system, mental and physical healthcare separated.

Chelsea (46:02)
Yep.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (46:12)
There's a lack of consistency in care around perinatal mental health. So you just don't know what you're gonna get when you go to one doctor versus another. And we look at women of color who are even more marginalized when it comes to women's health and they receive less screening and less access to care and have a higher rate of

pregnancy related deaths and postpartum depression and anxiety. So, you know, we have these the siloed system of health care and and it's tragic how backed up the system is when you're trying to find help and

Insurance is a big problem. At least in the state of Wisconsin, we don't have Medicaid expansion, so you can lose your benefits at two months postpartum. And we know that the leading cause of death, pregnancy related deaths, has to do with mental health, suicide and overdose, which often happen seven, eight, nine months postpartum.

Chelsea (47:10)
Gosh, yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (47:25)
And then you're also dealing even with private healthcare, trying to find a provider that takes your insurance and then the co -pays. I insurance is a massive factor in this.

Chelsea (47:37)
Yes.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (47:38)
I mean, some people will not like me saying this, I universal healthcare would have such a role in helping the maternal mental health crisis. So definitely we're looking at the systems and we need to look at the underlying systems of

Chelsea (47:50)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (47:58)
we have maternal care deserts. We have lack of housing issues. Rural communities don't have the support they need. Transportation issues, like finding transportation to get racism. There's so much there that puts up barriers to getting the care you need.

The other, so another three things is.

A, well, it would be great if providers were well -knowledged. Is that a term? Had knowledge about these things, about perinatal health.

Chelsea (48:34)
Right? We're trained.

Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (48:39)
I mean,

even psychiatrists, like some of them are like, I'm not touching it. I'm not dealing with a pregnant patient. Like, and we have a psychiatric access program in Wisconsin called the Periscope Project. So any provider can call and when real time get consultation on psychiatric medication and substance use disorder medication for a pregnant and postpartum person. we just need people to use it.

Chelsea (49:05)
Mm

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (49:09)
those type of things, like lot more peer support opportunities would help, especially in those desert areas with care, having peer support.

We need a system of follow -up care.

We need to not just screen. We need to be screening correctly. We need to be screening frequently. We need to be addressing not just depression but anxiety and everything that goes with it. We need to be getting mental health history. We need to talk about these conditions so people recognize what's happening around PTSD or OCD, all of that.

And then the follow -up care needs to be the systems, the people within the healthcare systems need to work together to ensure that people are not falling through the cracks. Because these conditions don't, they hinder you from being able to get care.

the nature of these conditions because A, they lie to you, they tell you you won't get better, you lack hope, they physically manifest the exhaustion. So all the stuff that goes into advocating for yourself is really hard when you are barely functioning because of your mental health.

Chelsea (50:14)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (50:41)
We need

navigators that help people navigate.

Chelsea (50:46)
Navigators, advocates, especially for people who don't have that solid support system like you had or like I had. You need someone in your corner. Yeah, they're huge things. I know it's such a big question. It's a question I've asked other providers before and it's like, boy, because, right? Exactly.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (51:05)
How much time do we have? We can talk about a lot

of different things.

Chelsea (51:10)
Yes, but you hit on some huge ones, some huge ones. I think a lot of what you have said

has been so important because one, you have lived experience and you are at a place now where you're in the system. You are in this world. You're in this realm. So you can see it from a personal perspective and you can also see it from a professional perspective. And I think that that's going to be really helpful for a lot of my listeners. And a thing that you said that is also something that was repeated to me when I was in treatment is that

because it does rob you of hope, like we'll hold it for you. Sarah will hold it for you. I will hold it for you. We will hold it for you until you can see it again because it will come back. It will come back. Sarah, what do you hope my listeners take away from your story?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (52:03)
Right.

Hmm, that is a very good question. From my story of my perinatal mental health story or?

Chelsea (52:20)
Your whole story, just you, the story of Sarah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (52:24)
The story of Sarah. my. Well...

Chelsea (52:26)
Ha ha!

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (52:29)
I think what I would like listeners to take away is...

You don't need perfection to be a good parent. You don't need to follow the formulas that you think exist to be a parent or to seek recovery from your conditions. And that your voice matters and you

know yourself and to not give into the power differential between the healthcare system and the patient. That you are a partner in the journey of having your child with your healthcare providers.

And that is not an easy thing to do. I mean, you definitely feel like you don't have a voice. And there's a lot of lack of informed consent and more...

More people need to be demanding information and stepping up and saying this is what I need and having an advocate. I think everyone should have a doula if you can.

Chelsea (53:42)
Yes,

that's like the theme of this season. get a Dula, get a find a Dula. We're all about the Dulas.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (53:47)
Yeah, because I mean, like

my Dua, you know, she's just like, you can ask this and you can ask that. And if you're not wanting this right now, you can speak up and say that, you know, like giving me choice and not telling me what to do, but saying, here's your options. And then.

Chelsea (54:08)
Yeah.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (54:11)
explaining them and and I didn't have certain interventions because my doula empowered me to speak up. So I think yeah if you can get a doula which isn't always easy.

Chelsea (54:25)
No, that's another thing we need to change is access to doulas. Yeah, yep. I want to thank you wholeheartedly for meeting with me, for sharing your story, for creating this space.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (54:27)
We need to have insurance cover dual care without a doubt.

Chelsea (54:42)
This will be linked in the show notes, but if my listeners want to find you and want to find Mom's mental health initiative, where should they look?

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (54:53)
Just Google us. Mom's Medical Health Initiative. We're a virtual organization so you can easily go on our website and contact us. We respond within 24 to 48 hours. You can go on social media, contact us via social media. Our website is really a tool as well. Like if you're like, I don't know if I'm...

Chelsea (54:56)
Hahaha!

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (55:20)
have depression or not. Like some of the information on there might help you get a better idea of what's going on, what you're feeling, what's the next step. And you can always just reach out to us anytime. Of course.

Chelsea (55:33)
Yeah.

I will say that you guys are very responsive on social media, which is great. If I react to a post or a story, someone is reacting back or responding. So I just, I'm thankful that I found you and I'm thankful to have the opportunity to sort of spread the word about you guys. So thank you so much.

Sarah Ornst Bloomquist (55:58)
Thank you for just spreading the word and making this a focal point in your work. We need that.

Chelsea (56:07)
Sarah, thank you for being an incredible advocate and support in the perinatal mental health field. Your story highlights the unfortunate truth that so many of us have faced. You have to speak up and do it loudly in order to get the help you need. But there is help and there is hope, and you are proof of that. Listeners, be sure to check out MOM's mental health initiative through their website or social media to learn more.

You can keep up with us on Quiet Connection by following us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and threads at Quiet Connection Podcast. You can help our community grow by leaving us a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify, and consider sharing our episodes on social media. To share your personal journey, you can contact us through our website at quietconnectionpodcast .com or by email.

at quietconnectionppmh at gmail .com. Join us next time when another story is told and you realize you are not alone. I see you.