Does anybody care?

Recently, I decided I would try to find out what the policies are regarding educating mothers in the state of Georgia on postpartum depression.  So I wrote the following email:

I’d like to find out what statewide policies or programs are in place in Georgia for the education and treatment of postpartum mood disorders, including postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. 

The state of Texas enacted a bill that requires healthcare providers who treat pregnant women to provide them with resource information regarding counseling for postpartum depression and other emotional traumas associated with pregnancy and parenting.  And the state of New Jersey has a website and 24-hour PPD help line that provides information about resources and emergency assistance.  Does Georgia have similar policies or are any in progress?

Postpartum mood disorders are extremely serious and deserve the attention of our local leaders.  I am a Georgia resident and a survivor of postpartum obsessive compulsive disorder.  I have a blog read by women around the country called Postpartum Progress at http://postpartumprogress.typepad.com and I was the PPD spokesperson for National Depression Screening Day.  I’d like to help create policies to support new mothers if none yet exist.

I sent the email to:

• the Georgia chapter of the National Association of Mental Illness ( nami-ga@nami.org )
• the Carter Center Mental Health program ( jon.moor@emory.edu )
• the National Mental Health Association of Georgia ( executiveoffice@nmhag.org ), and
• the Georgia Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases ( glwilson@dhr.state.ga.us ). 

I did not get a single reply yet.  NOT ONE.  Does anybody out there in Georgia care enough to reply to this basic question?  Does anybody in Georgia care about postpartum mood disorders?