Nothing quite gets my conversations rolling with working moms like the topic of mental health, specifically postpartum depression.

Every time I ask on my social media platforms, “How is your mental health, working mamas?” thousands of moms engage.

The conversation about mental health can be profound and frightening: many working moms are not doing okay.

Over the years, the percent of moms suffering with postpartum depression (PPD) has gone up; where I was once finding research stating between ten to fifteen percent of women with PPD, the latest research says that in an average year, twenty percent of moms have PPD.

Additional studies demonstrate the number as high as thirty-three percent of new moms suffering with postpartum depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, you are likely to have depressed new moms on your teams.

According to the Postpartum Support International (PSI), during pregnancy and the period after birth can manifest in a number of ways, including feelings of guilt, shame, or hopelessness, irritability, sleep disturbances, loss of interest, and sadness.

Interestingly for managers, PSI also states that mothers are at increased risk for PPD if they are under significant financial stress, lack of adequate childcare support, or complications during their new-mom journey, including breastfeeding stress.

Further, another study found that mothers with less than twelve weeks of maternity leave at their jobs were at increased risk for PPD due to the lack of time to focus on physical and mental well being before returning to their job.

Postpartum Depression and the Role of Workplace Support

Many of the moms I spoke with were working to keep their mental health challenges under wraps, away from their employers; the problem with this is that most people cannot compartmentalize or hide untreated, unsupported mental health challenges while at work.

Anxiety, depression, and stress compound over time and can boil over in a serious way without an outlet or safe space to receive help. For this reason, managers should assume we need to ask working moms about their mental health.

Those in leadership positions who know the day-to-day actions and behaviors of their employees the best can most often sense when something is off or prompt us to get help if we need it. That’s why management should player a greater role in mental health check-ins for working moms.

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Well Being Journal adapted the above excerpt from Go Ask Your Mothers by Sarah Wells. Copyright © 2024 by Sarah Wells. Reprinted with permission from BenBella Books.