Why Beyond the Baby Blues?

This Isn’t What You Expected

Somewhere between the joy you were promised and the exhaustion no one warned you about, there's a quieter feeling a lot of new and expecting parents carry. A feeling that's hard to name and even harder to admit. Perinatal mental health conditions are the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth in the United States. An estimated one in five birthing people will experience a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder, such as depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, and related conditions. Yet roughly three out of four people living with these conditions go undiagnosed and untreated.

What We See

Often times, people do not reach out saying that they are anxious or depressed. No, they say, I worry all the time about the baby. Or they say, I can’t make myself get out of bed or do anything, even though I tell myself I should. If that sounds like you: you're not broken, and you're not alone. What you're feeling is real, it's common, and parenthood doesn’t have to feel this way.

Here in Illinois, we've gotten better at asking the question, more doctors are checking in on how new and expecting parents are really doing. But asking the question isn't the same as treating it. Too many people leave that appointment with a diagnosis and a phone number, and nothing else. No one walks them to the door. No one checks back in. And so a phone number sits in a bag, unused, while life with a new baby swallows every spare minute and every ounce of energy it would take to make that call.

We know this because we've watched it happen, over and over, to families who deserved so much better. And we know something else too: when someone doesn't have to fight for care they deserve, when the group is already there, already free, already led by someone who understands exactly what this feels like then people show up. They heal. They find their way back to themselves.

That's why Beyond the Baby Blues exists.

We’re Here for You

It is both our mission and belief that no one should have to navigate this period alone. Our therapeutic support groups are free, led by clinicians who specialize in pregnancy, postpartum depression and anxiety, and the grief of pregnancy loss. We offer individualized therapy for underinsured and uninsured families by accepting most commercial and managed care plans and offering sliding scale rates. We have built you a space beyond what you are doing now. We have connection, community and support just waiting for you.