Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Jessie Colbert wanted to address a silent epidemic: postpartum depression (PPD).

PPD and peripartum depression (which covers a range of emotional health challenges that occur before and after birth) can affect mothers – and sometimes fathers — and Colbert says not enough people are talking about it.

“The shame and the stigma and the silence perpetuates the problem both individually and in terms of our addressing it better as a public health issue,” Colbert said in a recent New England Weekend podcast.

To help end the silence, Colbert founded the Mass. PPD Fund. It’s a new foundation and a recently added member of the Massachusetts Partnership for Infants and Toddlers (MPIT), which Strategies for Children facilitates.

Screenshot: Mass. PPD Fund Facebook page

Like other vital programs for young children, the fund’s work of raising public awareness and connecting parents to services focuses on providing a two-generation, parent-child solution.

“Kids need healthy caregivers to thrive. Supporting the mental health of new parents MUST be part of how we give infants and toddlers their best start,” Colbert says.

The fund’s mission, in part: “We support the growing network of services to prevent, identify, and treat perinatal mental health challenges, and work to fill in the gaps in those services, so no parent falls through the cracks. We believe that such challenges are treatable, and that addressing them early can make a lifetime of difference for families.”

The need is substantial. A research article published by JAMA Psychiatry notes:

“…compared with children of women with postnatal depression that did not persist, of either moderate or severe intensity, children of women with persistent and severe depression are at an increased risk for behavioral problems by age 3.5 years as well as lower mathematics grades and depression during adolescence. Furthermore, women with persistent postnatal depression are likely to experience significant depressive symptoms until at least 11 years after childbirth.”

Acting early is crucial.

As its Facebook page says, the Mass. PPD Fund supports “universal screening and treatment, while giving particular attention to low-income families, families of color, and others facing additional barriers to care.” The goal is to provide specific support for PPD and better support for new parents in general.

The fund is currently engaged in three grant-funded projects:

• organizing a new support group on Cape Cod, and finding a long-term host, such as a hospital, that can sponsor the group once the grant is over

• training staff at Boston Health Care for the Homeless in the Group Peer Support model, so they can bring more mental health support to new moms in Boston’s family shelters, and

• reaching out to new parents and service providers in New Bedford to find ways to add new support services

In addition, providers and parents currently in need of help will find good information in the podcast, which also includes interviews with other specialists, including:

• Dr. Leena Mittal, the director of the Division of Women’s Mental Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Mittal is also the associate medical director of MCPAP for Moms, which “promotes maternal and child health by building the capacity of providers serving pregnant and postpartum women and their children up to one year after delivery to effectively prevent, identify, and manage mental health and substance use concerns.”

• Lauren Brown, a clinical perinatal psychologist who volunteers with PSI Massachusetts (Postpartum Support International of Massachusetts). The organization’s support coordinators can help parents in need find mental health care providers and support groups, and

• Jamie Zahlaway Belsito, the founder of the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, which “works with policymakers to address maternal mental health challenges.”

The fund also shares a lot of useful information on its Facebook page, including information about events, workshops, and support groups.

As Colbert told the Boston Business Journal of the work that’s being done in Massachusetts:

“We’ve come a long way. We’re a national leader on this issue. But there are still tremendous holes that need to be filled. And that’s why our foundation has come into being.”