Postpartum Depression Helpline Launched in Crown Heights

Four months ago, Shifra and Puah, an organization dedicated to supporting mothers physically and emotionally after birth, spearheaded the launch of a Helpline for Postpartum Depression (PPD) in Crown Heights. 

The mission was to provide a lifeline of support and assistance to women grappling with Postpartum Depression.

“My name is Ortal Hoffman. I’ve lived in Crown Heights for about 16 years. 5 years ago, after I gave birth, I just did not feel like myself. My doctors didn’t know what was going on. They sent me for bloodwork, thinking that maybe I was lacking some vitamins, but my bloodwork came back, and I was told that ‘everything looked fine‘.

“Although there was nothing officially ‘wrong’ with me, I continued getting panic attacks and experiencing feelings that I had never felt before. I felt that my body was going through something but I didn’t know what it was. These feelings would come and go, so I never understood what was going on. I knew something was wrong but I wasn’t comfortable speaking about it to anyone.

“When I thought of PPD, I imagined a woman who didn’t want to be with their newborns in a dark room, not wanting to get out of bed. But sometimes, like in my case, I was very positive and didn’t want to believe that something was wrong. But after a few months of really struggling, I reached out to Shlomit Slapochnik from Shifra and Puah, who was really helpful.

“It took me a long time to understand and face the fact that I had PPD. I had so much shame that came along with it. Baruch Hashem, I got the support I needed, and once I felt like myself again, I thought about how many other women out there were going through the same thing I went through without help. I didn’t want anyone to ever go through this so the idea of creating a PPD hotline was born. I wish that when I was experiencing these feelings, I had this hotline.”

1 out of 7 women will experience some degree of PPD. If you’re sitting down in a room full of women, chances are a high number of them have experienced PPD. The number is concerning as it isn’t going down. Especially with everything going on in the world right now, right after giving birth, it can be extremely stressful.

PPD can present itself in different ways, and very often, some women don’t even know that they are experiencing it. It could be months and months of feeling this way with no support.Not feeling in tune with themselves, it’s like something has taken them over, which is PPD. It’s important to know that PPD is beyond a woman’s control. It is physiological and can occur at any age after any number of children.

We want women in this community to feel that they have support and are not alone. It is not something that lasts forever, and help and support are out there.

Every volunteer for our hotline went through special training on how to answer each woman who calls, what to say, and what not to say. We are taught how to proceed with the issue that the woman is calling about. We have many resources available to be of support.

Sometimes a woman just needs someone to listen to them. Sometimes it’s more severe. Whatever it is, we point them in the right direction and support them. We are very well equipped when it comes to first response with a great team of professionals to refer women to.

Every call is 100% confidential; we do not share any of the caller’s information with anyone, and we don’t even ask for the callers’ names. Many women who called were so happy and shocked to learn this hotline exists in CH that they said they wish they had known about it in the past.

“Although it is not something that was easy, going through my PPD and getting the help I needed was life-changing,” says Ortal, “We need to break the stigma of PPD. It is more common than we think and women should not feel like they are alone in this. The help is there, all you need to do is pick up the phone. It can save you, your children, and your whole family.”

With each call answered and each woman supported, we move one step closer to a future where no mother suffers in silence. Together, we can break the stigma, raise awareness, and ensure that every woman knows she is not alone—that help is just a phone call away.

PPD Hot line 631-776-5649