Manitoba mothers who are dealing with postpartum depression can now find help with a click of a mouse.
A new website created by parents for parents was launched Monday.
The site’s co-founder, Nellie Kennedy, is a mother of two who struggled with postpartum depression after the birth of both her children.
"It was a really lonely awful time," said Kennedy.
Kennedy said she and other volunteers with the Postpartum Depression Association of Manitoba knew more resources were needed to get people talking about the depression and finding help. They started working on the website two years ago.
The need for more resources became especially clear after a mother and her two children died last year.
Lisa Gibson had been suffering with postpartum depression. Her body was found in the river, days after her children were found drowned in their home in July 2013.
Every year there are approximately 10,000 births in Manitoba. An estimated 15 per cent of these new moms will experience some form of postpartum depression.
"We have where to go, what to do who to call, it’s a very user friendly website,” said Kennedy. “We wanted things to be very step by step oriented, very accessible and easy to use for people.”
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority agrees the need for more resources to address postpartum depression is great and was happy to support the association in launching the website.
"We are really pleased they reached out to us for some assistance. And we've been working with them to develop the content for that website and it's just another great resource that I think gets the word out even more...it's by women and for women and for families," said Marion Cooper, manager of mental health promotion at WRHA.
Kennedy said people from all over the province have contacted them already, appreciating the information shared online.
