Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital announced the launch of the BlueDot project, in partnership with 2020 Moms, to support Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month this May.

Just like the pink ribbon, the BlueDot is the national symbol for maternal mental health survivor-ship, support, and solidarity.  It can be used and displayed by anyone to promote awareness of maternal mental health disorders like postpartum depression – the #1 complication of childbirth.

TheBlueDot Project was originally created by Peggy O’Neil Nosti, a mom who suffered from postpartum anxiety with her third child who wanted to find a way to let other moms know they were not alone. Peggy created a subtle image of a blue dot and a silver lining to illustrate hope.

The symbol was selected by the former National Coalition for Maternal Mental Health after one of its member organizations, Postpartum Support International, hosted a contest to seek symbol ideas. The symbol is now being used in multiple ways to promote awareness and solidarity.  In 2017 the rights to TheBlueDot were signed over to 2020 Mom to further promote the symbol through Maternal Mental Health Awareness week and strategic partnerships.

“Our goal is to bring perinatal mood and anxiety disorders out of the shadows, increase awareness and identification of our community partners, and provide resources to the community so moms get help,” said Elizabeth Tarantini, LCSW, Perinatal Social Worker at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.  “We encourage everyone in the community to adopt the dot and show their support during the week of April 30 to May 5.”

Another component of the BlueDot campaign is through social media involvement.  Participants can share their #MomsMatter support and tag Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital on Facebook @henrymayohospital or on Twitter @henrymayohosp.

Visit TheBlueDotProject.org to order your dot and to learn more about raising awareness of maternal mental health disorders and combating stigma and shame.

Ed. Note: This above information was provided to KHTS by Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.

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