This Saturday, Bartlett Regional Hospital is hosting a walk/run event to raise awareness for mental health and trauma related to pregnancy and motherhood.
Bartlett’s obstetrics education team began offering monthly support groups for mothers in February of 2021. They call the program “Real Talk.”
Sara Gress, a nurse and educator at Bartlett, said the groups are “dedicated to having some real honest conversation about some of the parts of motherhood that are more challenging and not always discussed in some of the other spaces.”
The support groups are also offered through Zoom, so people outside of Juneau can participate.
“Even if folks didn’t deliver with us, we’re happy to have them participate and access these resources from their communities,” Gress said.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, 1 in 7 new parents experience postpartum depression. The National Library of Medicine estimates that up to 25% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage.
For Saturday’s race, Gress said that the race bibs will have a space to show who participants are running or walking in support of.
