"If you say it from the heart, you can't say it wrong,"

Talk show host, Phil Donahue spoke these words to Nancy Berchtold just before she appeared as a guest on his TV program in 1985. It would be the first of many programs featuring Berchtold and other new mothers who had experienced what doctors had called a postpartum psychiatric illness.Berchtold, a former Bucks County teacher, and her husband, John, were overjoyed as they expected their first child in December of 1983."During the birth of my daughter, I had hemorrhaged badly," says Berchtold. "The doctor didn't recommend a transfusion because of his concern about the prevalence of hepatitis in the blood bank. So I was sent home from the hospital weak and anemic."During her first weeks at home, when Berchtold should have been resting and enjoying her new baby, something went terribly wrong. She appeared to be happy, but symptoms of mania were surfacing. She was not sleeping, yet not getting tired. Then her happiness turned into anxiety."My mind was disintegrating," recalls Berchtold. "I was full of fear. Was my baby OK? Am I getting healthy again? I really had thought that my blood loss had caused this problem."Friends and family told John that it was just the baby blues; give her time and she would be fine."What did I know?" says John her spouse of 35 years. "Something was not right with Nancy. I called my brother and we decided it was time to call the obstetrician."Berchtold was admitted to Mercer Hospital in Trenton, N.J., where she was placed in a solitary room in the medical unit. Her doctor told her that she had postpartum psychosis, a severe mental disease, which occurs in 1 in 1,000 new mothers. Berchtold was administered antipsychotic medication for 10 days."It was horrible," she says. "I couldn't see my baby. I was afraid she had died."Following her hospital stay, Berchtold stayed with her parents and experienced the joy of being reunited with her 2-week-old baby.But then, weeks of depression followed. Therapy and medicine brought relief. About two months later, she and her family returned home."I wondered why this had happened to me," she explains. "I was thrilled about having my first baby. I had a great husband, a good job and then I felt I had been hit by a Mack truck."Berchtold, a Jim Thorpe resident for the past five years, said that her doctors had acted with "good intention," but in 1983, they knew little about postpartum depression. She then went on a mission to learn more about it and to find someone else who had had a similar experience.In the spring of 1984, Berchtold became a member of a new mothers' group in Princeton. There she befriended a woman, Melinda, who shared her own story about PPD with Berchtold.Melinda had suffered alone after she gave birth to a girl, only confiding in her husband about her depression. Berchtold and Melinda comforted each other and had discussed beginning a support group for mothers with postpartum depression, which strikes one in 10 new mothers.After placing an ad in the Trenton Times, Berchtold received several calls from similarly afflicted women. One caller, Debbie, had been institutionalized in a mental hospital and separated from her baby for an entire year. After recovery, Debbie would then go on to have two more children before becoming an Episcopal priest.Depression after Delivery, or DAD, was formed in 1985, the first postpartum depression support group in the country. One member introduced Berchtold to a book, "The New Mother Syndrome" by Carol Dix. After contacting Dix, Berchtold and her group were then scheduled to appear on "The Phil Donahue Show."Their appearance sparked a frenzy of public exposure. After a second stint with Donahue, DAD took their stories to the "Oprah Winfrey Show", the "Sally Jessie Rafael Show," "Good Morning America," "The Today Show," the "Joan Rivers Show," the "Geraldo Rivera Show," and the "Morton Downey Jr. Show."Their television circuit spanned a period of 10 years, and their national attention attracted more and more women with postpartum depression to DAD.Letters from hundreds of women had appeared in the Ann Landers and Dear Abby newspaper columns. Then, in 1989, Lifetime TV produced a documentary about postpartum depression with Berchtold and actress Susan Sarandon titled, "Beyond the Blues."In 1991, Berchtold was honored for her courage and voice and presented with the Lucretia Mott Award by "Women's Way" in Philadelphia.Berchtold reports that the severity for some women with postpartum depression and psychosis can have horrific consequences.In California, Angela Thompson, a registered nurse, claimed she was told by the devil that her baby was evil and had to die. Thompson drowned her newborn daughter in the backyard pool while her husband was at work.In Osceola Mills, Pa., Sharon Comitz, in a psychotic state of mind, dropped her infant son from a snow-covered bridge to his death into a stream below. Comitz was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to seven years in prison.In late 1986, Melinda, Berchtold's friend and visionary for DAD, suffered postpartum depression a second time after the birth of her son. While under psychiatric care, Melinda took her own life in January of 1987.Melinda's daughter is Jamie Greubel who recently won a bronze medal as the driver of the USA II bobsled team in the Sochi Olympics.In an interview with ESPN, Greubel said, "I am really sad that I can't share this experience with my mom. I know she would be proud of me. From stories I have heard, my mother was a lot like me filled with determination and spirit."Upon Berchtold's request, Dr. Ricardo Fernandez, a psychiatrist from Princeton, became a consultant for DAD."In 1983, no one knew much about postpartum depression," says Fernandez. "There was exactly one paragraph about it in my psychiatry textbook."Fernandez, who has since treated hundreds of PPD patients during his 30-year practice, says that although no scientific cause for PPD can be verified, it is hypothetically believed that it is the result of hormonal imbalances. Postpartum depression also has been proven to be hereditary."I have treated many daughters of mothers who experienced PPD disorders," he says, "We need to focus more on screening as a preventive measure. This means looking into family histories of depression and anxieties as well as identify mood irregularities brought on by premenstrual periods or through the use of birth control pills." He adds, "Early detection means early treatment which means a much better chance of recovery.""Other concerns exist with PPD," he says. "New fathers, who may not feel capable, are thrust into most of the baby care when their wives can't cope.Then there is an issue with breastfeeding. Prescribing medication for PPD can be harmful to a newborn who can ingest the medicine from its mother's milk.""Some couples may feel ashamed and remain silent when PPD occurs," says John Berchtold. "As a husband of a wife who suffered, I would implore husbands to not stand on the sidelines. Become a voice for your wives and seek medical help. There should never be shame. Nancy and I were fortunate that we got help early."The Berchtolds say that the process begins with identifying feelings and risk factors that are associated with PPD and then disclosing them to the family doctor. In the local area, Community Counseling Services in Wilkes-Barre is a contact.Annmarie Poslock, vice president of marketing for Commonwealth Health defines the role of CCS."Although we have no specific programs for patients with PPD, we offer the benefit for patients facing depression issues to work with licensed counselors."In 1995, Berchtold retired as the director of Depression after Delivery. Due to a case of financial fraud with the organization's assets, DAD ceased its national operation one year later. Some local chapters, however, still exist across the country.After 30 years experiencing so many emotional levels of PPD, Berchtold says that she was driven by memories of Melinda as well as her spirit and credits her Christian faith for the awareness, the healing, and the education that were the results of her efforts.Her influence even reached into Calcutta, India, where a director of a support group sent her prayer beads in gratitude."Nancy is a dynamo of a lady," says Dr. Fernandez. "She's like a pitbull that won't stop charging until it gets what it wants."Berchtold's tenacity was a driving force in bridging the gap between ignorance and knowledge for those suffering postpartum psychiatric illness.She still cherishes the gift of those words from Phil Donahue that are worth repeating."If you say it from the heart, you can't say it wrong."Editor's note: Community Counseling Services in Wilkes-Barre can be contacted at 570-552-7438.