Healthy Habits: #MyWishForMoms

Model, author, activist and pop culture icon Chrissy Teigen announced today that she is partnering with Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and its women’s health program AHN Women to launch a social cause initiative – #MyWishForMoms – which aims to create open dialogue among women about postpartum depression and anxiety.

Last year, more than 500,000 – or one in seven – new moms developed postpartum depression, yet only 15 percent of them received treatment, according to the American Psychological Association. Postpartum depression is characterized by extreme feelings of sadness, anxiety and exhaustion that can threaten the wellbeing of moms, babies and their families.  

“When I was approached with this opportunity – to help be the voice for women experiencing postpartum depression and anxiety – I thought, ‘this is perfect!’. I’m grateful to be able to use the platform that I’ve been given to reduce the stigma that many women feel when talking about these very real and treatable conditions,” said Teigen. “I wish I had known that postpartum depression can happen to anyone because I didn’t think it could happen to me. Here I was, with my perfect little Luna and a supportive husband, yet I was truly struggling.”

Throughout Maternal Mental Health month, observed annually in May, Teigen (@chrissyteigen) will ask moms to share what they wish they would have known about postpartum depression and anxiety using the hashtag #MyWishForMoms. Additionally, AHN Women will educate families on the warning signs of postpartum depression and anxiety, as well as available treatment options, via MyWishForMoms.org.

“My wish for moms is that they know they aren’t alone, and they are supported by the more than 500,000 women who share their experience each year,” Teigen said. “Imagine if we can get as many people talking about postpartum depression and anxiety as those experiencing it, and let them know help is available.”

Teigen recently visited the AHN Women Alexis Joy D’Achille Center for Perinatal Mental Health in Pittsburgh to meet with women who have received treatment for postpartum depression and/or anxiety. Joining the patients on the AHN Women signature green sofa, she filmed a series of videos highlighting each woman’s storyand demonstrating how AHN’s unique program is changing the way postpartum depression and anxiety are treated.

“We have created a novel therapeutic environment that brings available resources to women and their families in an effort to help get them well, bond and grow together. We are so pleased to work with Chrissy, and commend her for being open about her own experience in order to help other families,” said Sarah Homitsky, MD, a psychiatrist and Medical Director of Women’s Behavioral Health at AHN.

About the AHN Women Alexis Joy D’Achille Center for Perinatal Mental Health

• This innovative center is one of only a few in the U.S. offering a variety of mother-baby treatments for pregnancy-related depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder under one roof.
• The 7,300-square-foot facility houses rooms for individual therapy as well as space for intensive outpatient care – a three-hours-daily, three-day-a-week program that focuses on group therapy, mother-child bonding, and complementary modalities for stress relief, such as yoga and meditation.
• The center allows mother and baby to stay together during treatment as moms learn skills for connecting with her baby and enhancing their bond.
• Child care for older children of moms who are undergoing treatment is provided, addressing a major barrier to care for many women.
• The Alexis Joy D’Achille Center is named after Alexis Joy D’Achille who tragically took her own life just six weeks after the birth of her daughter, Adriana, in 2013.
• The program is located at Allegheny Health Network’s West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
   

“This wonderful new facility is the culmination of our journey and vision for transforming the way postpartum depression is diagnosed and treated,” said Cynthia Hundorfean, President and Chief Executive Officer, AHN. “The D’Achille family’s passion and determination, together with our organization’s commitment to excellence in women’s and mental health, has resulted in a truly game-changing program at AHN that is improving the lives of countless women and their families.”

For more information on this cause, visit http://www.mywishformoms.org/.

To see upcoming exclusive content with Teigen, or to find out more information about how AHN Women is innovating the treatment of postpartum depression and anxiety, follow AHN on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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About Allegheny Health Network 

Allegheny Health Network (AHN.org), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region.  The Network is composed of eight hospitals, including Allegheny General Hospital, its flagship academic medical center in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, Canonsburg Hospital in Canonsburg, Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, and Westfield Memorial Hospital in Westfield, NY.  The Network provides patients with access to a complete spectrum of advanced medical services, including nationally recognized programs for primary and emergency care, cardiovascular disease, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, women’s health, diabetes, and more.  It also is home to a comprehensive research institute; Health + Wellness Pavilions; an employed physician organization, home and community based health services and a group purchasing organization. The Network employs approximately 20,000 people, has more than 2,400 physicians on its medical staff, and serves as a clinical campus for Drexel University College of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.