[Laquanda Harris-George] I had my first son when I was 18. My son was born sick, he had
pneumonia. It was a very hard and trying time. Scared, I didn't know anything, and then
I found out when he was 9 months, that I was 5 months pregnant with his brother. I was
not aware consciously that I was suffering from depression. It made the simplest things
very hard, nearly impossible to do. [Sheree Toth] We have extensive research that shows
that when moms have a baby that they're certainly at significantly increased risk
of depression. And when you're looking at moms who have multiple stressors in their
lives, including living in poverty, living in neighborhoods with high crime, about 1
in 4 women experience major depressive disorders. [Harris-George] After dealing with a sick
child and having another child unexpectedly, it was hard, and that's when I got introduced
to the program. [Margaret Figueroa] I worked with Laquanda for about a year. The IPT program
is a home visiting model, so I would go out to her home on a weekly basis. The majority
of the focus is on what's currently happening, right now, and what is contributing to their
mood, whether it's events, situations, relationships they might be in. [Toth] Unfortunately there's
a significant stigma still associated with seeking help for a mental illness and I think
it's even worse in minority populations. There's somewhat of a sense of, "we should
be able to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps", and, "we really don't need any extra help".
[Harris-George] Something's going on, but you can't quite put your finger on it. Until
I was presented with the information it was something that I never really heard, or was
aware I was going through, but it helped me pinpoint what was the trigger that caused
it and ways to treat it. [Toth] It's so important as a field that we continue to expand
our efforts to look at whether these interventions can be effective with lower-income, more diverse
populations, and I think this is a really important step in that direction. [Harris-George]
While I was in the program, I got pregnant with my last son. I was at a better place
to be able to receive him. Margaret helped me to keep my head above water, to keep level-headed.
[Figueroa] Laquanda was a bit more unique in that she had the family support, she's
married and parenting her 3 children along with her husband. While she had that good
support, she was also struggling with the depressive symptoms that were creeping up
on that day-to-day basis for her. [Harris-George] I didn't see my child as a burden, so much,
but I saw him as a priority. She worked with me to help me see that it was OK for me to
set goals and say, "I can still do something with my life". [Figueroa] Well it feels
good to see her succeed and attain some of those goals that she had set for herself,
a long time ago, before she had children. [Harris-George] I've always said I want
to be in the medical field, and I am going to school now to be a dental hygienist. I'm
very happy. It's been a long time coming.