Purpose
- To provide support for women in Hawaii with pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders.
- To provide education about childbearing-related mental health issues to parents & providers.
- To promote awareness of perinatal mood disorders state-wide, to all areas and sectors of our Island communities.
History
PPDsupportHI is a grass-roots 100% volunteer organization.
Diane Ashton founded the organization in 2004, ten years after her own postpartum challenges. She’s been talking with and learning from women with prenatal and postpartum mood complications online and telephone since 2001.
She initially attended PPD training in Hawaii in 2001. At the same time she joined on
line PPD communities to learn more. In 2003 she attended training with national leaders in postpartum mood disorders, in California. She became a Depression After Delivery telephone support volunteer that same year. She was a community moderator for a national online PPD community for 2 1/2 years, replying to sometimes 30 new moms’ questions a day. In 2004, she became the Hawaii Area Coordinator as a part of Postpartum Support International, and in 2008 their Pacific Region Coordinator. In 2010 she coordinated the PSI Warmline volunteers, operating 7 days a week nationwide, and volunteered for a year. She currently coordinates the emails requesting support from the PSI website and works full time in behavioral health.
