dban asked this question on 5/9/2000:

Does anyone know of any support groups for post-partum depression in the Madison, WI area? Any other support groups for parenting would also be helpful. I am a mother of two that is suffering from post-partum depression for the second time. I have a 10-week old daughter and a 3-year old son. This time around, the depression is 100% worse and I'm scaring myself and others as to how horrible I feel and what I might do or at least think about doing. Medication is just not enough. Any advice would be extremely grateful.

CeeBee gave this response on 5/10/2000:

Hi, Dawn --

Been there, done that with post-natal depression! My salvation was going out shopping (actually mostly window shopping) on Monday evenings for about three hours. I went alone or with a friend, but got away from the house for a few hours.

I live in the Chicago suburbs and know that Madison has a lot of resources for all kinds of issues and concerns. Check with your doctor first. Check with the hospital where you had the baby. Check the Yellow Pages for a number for Catholic Charities and YMCA; they should know of a solution such as a support group or young mothers group. I used my Internet search engine and the keywords "Madison WI support" and got this (among others): Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, 16 N. Carroll St., Suite 600, Madison, Wisconsin 53703 608.284.0580 Fax: 608.284.0583 -- might be worth a call... Call a Catholic or Lutheran (or some other mainstream) church office for a contact name or number for a group of young mothers. Th U of WI-Madison should have resources and even clinics/support groups, I would think. Check with your local public library reference librarian. Here in IL there is an actual directory of IL support groups, available at most IL public libraries. Maybe WI has such a thing. If you want more ideas, please e-mail me.

Best wishes!! CeeBee cb.425@inil.com