Ministering to Women With Postpartum Depression

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:05.919 So here we are. The MOM's come in, she's ready to abort and 2 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:10.669 you know that actually, if she's had it in her past, she's likely 3 00:00:10.710 --> 00:00:15.589 to have it again. And so what do you what do you say to 4 00:00:15.789 --> 00:00:23.420 her as she's as she's contemplating abortion? I Am Yours, I am yours, 5 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:28.620 I am yours. And Me, Lord, I am yours, I 6 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:34.060 am yours. I'm welcome to the Gospel centered pro life podcast, a podcast 7 00:00:34.179 --> 00:00:39.729 designed to equip, encourage and challenge you in pro life ministry, and always 8 00:00:39.770 --> 00:00:47.770 with a focus on the Gospel. Stay tuned. I felt show passish touch 9 00:00:48.210 --> 00:00:58.359 your use me, Lord. Welcome back to the Gospel Center pro life podcast. 10 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:02.799 Appreciate you, guys, joining us and we hope these podcast episodes are 11 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.670 a blessing to you. I mentioned in the past, but I want to 12 00:01:04.670 --> 00:01:08.069 mention it again, that we have set up a website, which is just 13 00:01:08.189 --> 00:01:12.310 a small little web page, something special, with our podcasts on it and 14 00:01:12.430 --> 00:01:17.109 a search feature where you can search topics and keywords and things like that and 15 00:01:17.230 --> 00:01:21.219 find any of our podcasts that have that keyword in them. You can get 16 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:25.299 a gospel centered pro lifecom and that should take you right over to that Web 17 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:27.299 page. So Gospel Center, Pro Life, a calm. 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We want to say and do 26 00:02:04.469 --> 00:02:09.189 that which honors the Lord Jesus, and we don't we don't consider ourselves experts 27 00:02:09.229 --> 00:02:15.270 all those some people may consider us to be experts, and STHARY is we're 28 00:02:15.469 --> 00:02:19.900 we're sort of expert. Yeah, I guess so, but more than anything 29 00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:23.860 we just want to encourage you guys and bring subjects that come across our radar 30 00:02:23.900 --> 00:02:30.689 across your radar, and that's how most of these podcast episodes come we have 31 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:35.770 some kind of situation that we deal with with a mom or something, somebody 32 00:02:36.009 --> 00:02:38.729 and we hey, maybe we should do a podcast about that, and that's 33 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:43.330 where this podcast episode is coming from. kind of a weird subject, yeah, 34 00:02:43.409 --> 00:02:47.439 for some people, but it's something likely if you are ministering on the 35 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:53.280 sidewalk, ministering to mom's that go to these abortion centers, you're going to 36 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:55.400 likely place it. So what's our what's our subject? Yeah, well, 37 00:02:55.479 --> 00:03:01.310 this was actually a topic that one of our sidewalk missionaries contacted me and said 38 00:03:01.310 --> 00:03:07.629 that this mom had had gone into the abortion center was planning to abort and 39 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:10.030 it was based on the fact that she had a history of postpartum depression, 40 00:03:10.270 --> 00:03:16.379 okay, and she was very concerned about going through that again. It had 41 00:03:16.419 --> 00:03:23.939 been pretty rough, pretty devastating, and the sidewalk missionary that contacted me really 42 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:30.009 knew very little about postpartum depression didn't really know how to address it. So 43 00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:35.650 I thought that would be a good thing for us to talk about. I 44 00:03:35.849 --> 00:03:39.889 have had women with what I would consider baby blues. There is a difference 45 00:03:40.129 --> 00:03:46.560 between the less serious baby blues and exhaustion that probably every new mom feels and 46 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:53.240 postpartiment depression. But so I did some research, contacted our high risk doctor 47 00:03:53.560 --> 00:04:00.389 and she sent me a couple of articles, contacted our wonderful doctor Matt Harrison, 48 00:04:00.430 --> 00:04:03.990 yeah, who is the pioneer of the abortion po reversal and and he 49 00:04:04.150 --> 00:04:09.870 works with many moms, and asked him for some inputs. So that's how 50 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:16.579 this particular article and podcasts developed. Okay. So, so the first thing 51 00:04:17.779 --> 00:04:24.730 you know is is the woman was threatening abortion and I believe the counselor had 52 00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:29.930 kind of talked her at least momentarily out of that. Okay, but then 53 00:04:30.129 --> 00:04:34.250 didn't quite know what now. Yes, what's next? Yeah, so what 54 00:04:34.449 --> 00:04:41.879 the things that that I counseled immediately were that we had a high risk doctor 55 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:45.959 who she could contact, and I think that's number one thing, yeah, 56 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.439 for for people to have in their rup. Yeah, absolutely, having some 57 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:55.110 kind of medical professional that could speak to this stuff. And of course the 58 00:04:55.230 --> 00:04:59.230 best is that that medical professional is a believer in Jesus. Yeah, we're 59 00:04:59.269 --> 00:05:02.069 dealing with things like postpartum depression. I mean having an MD, certainly an 60 00:05:02.149 --> 00:05:08.300 Obgyn because she's dealt with that stuff before, for sure, yeah, but 61 00:05:08.420 --> 00:05:12.620 maybe having someone that deals in the mental health realm. Yeah, someone the 62 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:16.579 deals in the counseling realm that's dealt with postpartum depression and maybe because it's not 63 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:21.370 always easy to find an md or someone who's, like you, certified or 64 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:26.170 whatever in this area. Yeah, maybe you can't find that, but having 65 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:29.850 maybe a connection with a church that has a counseling center or something like that, 66 00:05:30.089 --> 00:05:32.810 but connecting them to someone that can get more in depth and that has 67 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:38.480 dealt with these situations is probably one of the most important things you can do, 68 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:41.720 beyond praying. The share word moves in that sharation. Yeah, so 69 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:44.600 in in this article, the first thing that I thought we should do is 70 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:49.509 define what it is so that our kind slurs and anyone listening to this podcast 71 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:53.829 really knows what it is. You may have a general sense, but the 72 00:05:53.990 --> 00:06:03.269 Mayo clinics definition of postpartum depression is first of all differentiates it from baby blues, 73 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:08.220 which I have mentioned. Is that like a technical thing? Baby Blues, 74 00:06:08.300 --> 00:06:11.139 Baby Blues. That's what if they was in the article, they they 75 00:06:11.420 --> 00:06:15.699 and that's it's very common. You know, MOMS are new baby, new 76 00:06:15.860 --> 00:06:21.089 schedule, exhausted, all these hormone searging through you. So it is very 77 00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:28.649 common to have mood swings, crying spells, anxiety, difficulty sleeping and the 78 00:06:28.810 --> 00:06:33.600 difference between Postpartum Depression and baby blues is that the baby blues usually begin within 79 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:39.199 the first two to three days after delivery and can last up to like two 80 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:46.800 weeks. But postpartum depression is long lasting. It can it can even in 81 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:51.069 extreme cases, turn into an extreme mood disorder which is called postpartum psychosis, 82 00:06:51.629 --> 00:06:57.389 and it usually occurs after childbirth. It can begin before the baby's born, 83 00:06:57.430 --> 00:07:03.860 but usually it occurs following childbirth. So one of the things that it really 84 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:09.420 made clear in the articles that I read and that the doctors I spoke with 85 00:07:09.819 --> 00:07:14.500 it's treatable, okay, and it is serious. Take it seriously. I 86 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:18.529 think that's import Horton, okay, that anyone who interacts with the mom who 87 00:07:18.610 --> 00:07:24.970 says she has a history of it or she's currently going through it, take 88 00:07:25.009 --> 00:07:30.879 it seriously but reassure her that they're there are effective treatments and the sooner it's 89 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:39.439 identified, the better the treatments are and the more effective that the treatments are. 90 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:44.310 So I let's say, one of the things just to chime in a 91 00:07:44.350 --> 00:07:48.029 quick as a man from the male perspective. Yeah, when you encounter these 92 00:07:48.069 --> 00:07:53.110 women, I think we've said this reiterated this point several times that when you 93 00:07:53.230 --> 00:07:57.589 encounter a mom and she gives some reason why she's coming to the abortion center, 94 00:07:58.939 --> 00:08:01.699 sometimes those reason can they can be ridiculous to us and we don't understand. 95 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:05.019 We don't we don't connect with it right, especially as a man and 96 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:09.939 dealing with postpartum depression like no man's ever dealt with postpartum depression. So we 97 00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:13.850 could be tempted to kind of just shrug it off. It's like, well, 98 00:08:13.850 --> 00:08:16.089 that's no reason to kill your baby, right. But I want to 99 00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:20.370 reinforce what you said, that we need to take it seriously. We need 100 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:22.209 to, like we've always said, identify with their pain, even though it 101 00:08:22.290 --> 00:08:26.160 does not justify them killing their child. To them it's real. To them 102 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:31.320 it's at least it's some sense a justification to be at the abortion center and 103 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.399 we need to take it seriously. We need to address it now. Probably, 104 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.000 as a man, I'm not even get as in depth as you would 105 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:45.830 with the situation right right, but certainly if I've got people that I can 106 00:08:45.870 --> 00:08:48.789 get on the phone, if I've got a I'm out there on the sidewalk 107 00:08:48.830 --> 00:08:50.029 and I'm talking to a mom that's going in. She said, well, 108 00:08:50.149 --> 00:08:52.750 that with postpartum depression in the past and I don't want to deal with that 109 00:08:52.909 --> 00:08:56.620 this time. Still dealing with that or whatever. I'm probably going to call 110 00:08:56.659 --> 00:09:01.940 a female counselor over. Yeah, I'm probably going to not, probably definitely 111 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:03.259 going to point her to the pregnancy center. Hey, don't go in there. 112 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:07.100 There's people in the pregnancy center. They can talk with that. I'll 113 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:09.779 talk with you about that. And then again, if I have a medical 114 00:09:09.820 --> 00:09:11.409 professional so I can get on the phone, accounsel or something like that. 115 00:09:11.970 --> 00:09:16.409 Definitely want a connector with that, that person to yeah, yeah, and 116 00:09:16.610 --> 00:09:18.730 it is very important. We mentioned this in the article. I would recommend 117 00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:22.649 everyone read the artum article because we're not going to be able to get into 118 00:09:22.690 --> 00:09:26.120 the depth and the time we have. But one of the things the the 119 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:31.679 experts say is if there is a history of postpartum depression, there is a 120 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:37.639 greater likelihood and subsequent pregnancies that there will be postpartum depression. So this woman's 121 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:41.190 sphere was real. Yeah, I think it might have even been her doctor 122 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:45.269 that had sent her to the abortion center, which is so sad and so 123 00:09:45.389 --> 00:09:48.429 terrible because you you may or may not have postpartum depression, but it is 124 00:09:48.629 --> 00:09:54.019 serious as is debilitating, and it can truly it can be so severe that 125 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:58.980 it can affect the mother's ability to bond to the child and the child could 126 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:03.700 literally be in danger. It is very important that a professional be involved if 127 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:07.450 that is in the in the woman's past. But so some of the symptoms, 128 00:10:09.169 --> 00:10:13.289 so so that that you know that this is different, more severe than 129 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:18.610 just the crying, the tiredness, the sadness or irritability that often accompanies an 130 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:24.200 exhausted woman following the birth of a baby. But with postpartum depression it's usually 131 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:31.279 developing within the first few weeks after giving birth, may begin earlier during pregnancy. 132 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:37.470 There's depressed mood and severe mood swings, excessive crying, this is an 133 00:10:37.509 --> 00:10:41.909 important one. Difficulty bonding with the baby. Yeah, that's different from the 134 00:10:43.029 --> 00:10:46.509 baby blues. Baby Blues. There is sadness, there is irritability, but 135 00:10:46.669 --> 00:10:52.820 you love your baby. Yeah, and and the postpartum depressed woman may not 136 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:56.940 feel that. She may just detach, be detached, yeah, from that 137 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:05.649 baby. She may withdraw from family and friends, losing appetite, having insomnia 138 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:11.250 or sleeping too much, overwhelming fatigue. All of those a company new childbirth. 139 00:11:11.330 --> 00:11:13.529 So you can see why. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate the two, 140 00:11:13.570 --> 00:11:20.080 which is why you got to get a professional in to diagnose hope. Hopelessness 141 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:28.279 is another sign. Feelings of worthlessness, shame, panic attacks. This is 142 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:33.470 another really important one. Thoughts of harming yourself or the baby. Yeah, 143 00:11:33.509 --> 00:11:39.230 again, that's not a normal baby be blue right response. Recurrent thoughts of 144 00:11:39.350 --> 00:11:43.429 death or suicide is a really serious thing that you should always pay attention to. 145 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:48.779 Yeah, and if it's left untreated, it can last for many months 146 00:11:48.820 --> 00:11:54.259 or longer, which would, of course, severely affect that the outcome for 147 00:11:54.379 --> 00:11:56.779 that child, because that's such an important time, yeah, of bonding, 148 00:11:58.419 --> 00:12:01.090 you know, early on. Yeah, absolutely so. So some of the 149 00:12:01.129 --> 00:12:09.049 risk factors. We wrote those down and what I noticed was that a lot 150 00:12:09.169 --> 00:12:15.250 of them are similar risk factors to what we see in the women we encounter 151 00:12:15.370 --> 00:12:20.600 at the abortion center. Yeah, just in general, financial problems, week 152 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:28.759 support system, problems with relationships, all those things we see probably in every 153 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:33.429 woman we meet. Yeah, added the abortion center some measure, for sure, 154 00:12:33.149 --> 00:12:39.110 a big one. Pregnancy was unplanned or unwanted. So you know that 155 00:12:39.470 --> 00:12:46.419 you're probably going to run into women with postpartum depression. Given these risk factors, 156 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:52.460 which are so so prevalent in the women that come for an abortion. 157 00:12:52.500 --> 00:13:01.610 Yeah, history of depression is particularly indicative of the chance of postpartum depression. 158 00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:09.409 Come enough. So here we are. The MOM's come in, she's ready 159 00:13:09.490 --> 00:13:13.519 to abort and you know that actually, if she's had it in her past, 160 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:18.960 she's likely to have it again. And so what he's what do you 161 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:24.799 say to her as she's as she's contemplating abortion? And I think one of 162 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:31.590 the things that we often say to women whenever there's a possibility but not a 163 00:13:31.950 --> 00:13:41.139 certainty, that we can use that same discussion with a woman with postpartum depression. 164 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:46.340 Yeah, you may or may not have postpartum depression, but yeah, 165 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:50.899 I mean it's similar to those situations where you encounter a woman at the abortion 166 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:54.700 center that says, you know, I had whatever, whatever the disorder was. 167 00:13:56.049 --> 00:14:00.450 High blood pressure, so a common one during the last pregnancy. Clamps 168 00:14:00.490 --> 00:14:05.570 here exactly problem will have during pregnancy. So they might say they had complications 169 00:14:05.649 --> 00:14:09.289 with their last pregnancy and they don't want to take a risk this time. 170 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:13.399 Like you mentioned earlier, their doctor sometimes has counseled them to come to the 171 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:18.960 abortion center because they had passed issues. And so, yeah, it's important 172 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:24.669 to remind them that not just because you have a certain thing in your past 173 00:14:24.789 --> 00:14:28.870 does not necessarily mean that thing is going to manifest currently. And then I 174 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:33.470 think you have to either way, we have to confront with the real issue, 175 00:14:33.710 --> 00:14:37.230 is in the real issue is lack of a connection with the Lord, 176 00:14:37.350 --> 00:14:41.700 and you can do that very graciously. You want to bring Jesus into the 177 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:45.340 equation, right, and the way I would do that if I was having 178 00:14:45.379 --> 00:14:48.740 this conversation. Well, you need to bring Jesus into the conversation, for 179 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:50.340 sure, but you also need to talk about the humanity of the baby. 180 00:14:50.940 --> 00:14:54.490 You need to dispel the myth, the lie that that baby is just a 181 00:14:54.570 --> 00:14:58.409 pregnancy, just a process that they're in. The baby's actually a human being. 182 00:14:58.490 --> 00:15:01.970 So, but bringing Jesus into the equation. If I was to encounter 183 00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:05.570 a woman in this particular scenario, I would first identify with her pain, 184 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:09.480 because I'll ask the question often times in the course of the conversation, which 185 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.919 so, what makes you feel like this is something you have to do, 186 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:15.759 and I can imagine it playing itself out. I have not yet, just 187 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:18.919 so you know, I have not yet encountered this. Yeah, I've talked 188 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:24.669 to women that have had postpartum depression, but not coming to the abortion center 189 00:15:24.710 --> 00:15:28.590 in that particular scenario. Right. Yeah, but so I asked them what 190 00:15:28.909 --> 00:15:31.830 would you what makes you feel like abortion is an option for you and if 191 00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:37.379 they're sure to come out? Well, I deal strongly with postpartum depression. 192 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:43.779 My last two children I had a heavy postpartum depression and I just don't want 193 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:48.779 to deal with that again. And so my first responsib be man that that's 194 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:50.529 terrible. I hate that you deal with that. Yeah, and then I 195 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:54.289 wur bring Jesus into the equation. Like, you know, God would say 196 00:15:54.370 --> 00:15:58.809 something like do you believe in God? Nine Times out of ten, yeah, 197 00:15:58.809 --> 00:16:02.009 I believe in God. Yeah, so you know God. God sees 198 00:16:02.090 --> 00:16:06.120 that pain, God knows the depression, the struggle, God knows all of 199 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:10.120 that stuff and he cares about it. And so I bring Jesus into the 200 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:12.639 equation. I maybe would bring some scripture. The Bible says cast your cares 201 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:17.600 on the Lord, for he cares for you. Jesus cares about the stuff 202 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:18.950 that you're going through. He wants you to cast those cares on him. 203 00:16:18.950 --> 00:16:22.830 Yeah, and then I'm going to be talking about the humanity of the baby. 204 00:16:22.990 --> 00:16:26.590 Hmmm. Do you know that that that baby that you carry inside of 205 00:16:26.629 --> 00:16:30.190 your womb is precious to the Lord and even though you might be struggling even 206 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:34.419 now mentally or had struggled in the past mentally, your children are a blessing. 207 00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:37.700 Yeah, maybe you carry right now, though she or she's very small, 208 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:41.299 that baby is alive. Yeah, and then, of course I'll start 209 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:44.460 talking about, you know, your baby's hearts already beating. Yeah, and 210 00:16:44.580 --> 00:16:48.129 then after that, I mean we're talking probably this is a five minute conversation 211 00:16:48.169 --> 00:16:52.850 or less. I'm pointing them right to the mobile ultrasound unit or right to 212 00:16:52.289 --> 00:16:56.889 a pregnancy center down the road, right to somewhere other than that place. 213 00:16:56.929 --> 00:16:59.730 They would you be willing just to go down the road to the pregnancy center? 214 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:02.879 It's fifteen minutes away. Here's the address, and they will have a 215 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:06.480 nurse that will give you a free pregnancy test for ultrasound and they can talk 216 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.839 with you about all this stuff. Yeah, and I like what you're doing 217 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:14.720 is you're taking her focus off of her own fears and pain and putting it 218 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.190 on another human being, yeah, which is which is that baby, and 219 00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:21.430 also, of course, on the help that God. And I liked what 220 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:25.470 you said that, when you said that God knows about out your pain and 221 00:17:25.589 --> 00:17:30.539 your struggle, because so many of them describe themselves as feeling like they're all 222 00:17:30.579 --> 00:17:33.019 alone in this and then no one understands. And bring it in the fact 223 00:17:33.059 --> 00:17:37.900 that will God does. God understands. Yeah, and and he's there. 224 00:17:38.700 --> 00:17:45.329 So so those are all good and and and talking about again, of course, 225 00:17:45.490 --> 00:17:48.690 that there's a certainty if you take the child's life, the baby's dead 226 00:17:48.849 --> 00:17:52.970 and the baby may may or may not have yeah, well, are you 227 00:17:52.089 --> 00:17:56.170 named? Yeah, would that. Would certainly mention that. Yeah, you 228 00:17:56.250 --> 00:17:59.640 may have had this in the past, but that's no promise that you're going 229 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.960 to have this right issue in the future. Right, but what is certain? 230 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:06.079 That's an uncertainty. You're not sure that you're going to have that. 231 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:08.599 Yeah, but this is certain that if you go inside of that place, 232 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:15.349 your baby's right right. Yeah, and then, if possible, if it 233 00:18:15.470 --> 00:18:19.750 was a doctor that sent her there, her doctor, you need to help 234 00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:23.710 find her another doctor. Yeah, it's kind of there are pro life doctors, 235 00:18:23.789 --> 00:18:29.220 in fact, and I spoke with Dr Matt because I am hardly an 236 00:18:29.259 --> 00:18:33.579 expert on this. I actually never experience postpartum depression myself with any of my 237 00:18:33.660 --> 00:18:38.980 pregnancies. But it is it is serious. Dr Matt said. It can 238 00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:45.049 be very serious and it can lead to severe depressive disorder. So we you. 239 00:18:45.369 --> 00:18:48.410 You do need to take it seriously and it does need to be treated 240 00:18:48.490 --> 00:18:56.000 and addressed. But he said the answer is never killing the baby. Yeah, 241 00:18:56.119 --> 00:19:00.079 there is treatment and so reminding the woman also and knowing that yourself. 242 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:03.319 I didn't know that. I didn't know what they could do for postpartum depression. 243 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:07.680 I thought the woman just had to gut through it. But apparently there 244 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:11.670 are drugs that you can even take during pregnancy that are safe during pregnancy, 245 00:19:12.470 --> 00:19:18.710 so he said. When I did talk with Dr Matt he he said that 246 00:19:19.230 --> 00:19:25.660 there are really some important things that sidewalk volunteer should know. First, that 247 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:29.900 it can be treated safely and effectively. It is effective. There is good 248 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:33.779 medication available. Yeah, but he also said, and I thought this was 249 00:19:33.859 --> 00:19:38.130 so important for us as sidewalk counselors in especially Love Life Ministry, who appoints 250 00:19:38.210 --> 00:19:44.289 mentors to these women. He said the woman will require a lot of support 251 00:19:45.410 --> 00:19:51.450 if she's struggling with postpartum depression. So he also made another point. I 252 00:19:51.650 --> 00:19:55.240 do want. I do want maybe you to to talk a little bit about. 253 00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:56.839 Okay, the woman needs a lot of support. So what are we 254 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:02.559 then to think and to provide and to think about, you know, as 255 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:07.750 are follow up with this woman? Yeah, but he also said Post postport 256 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:15.710 post partum depression, is a real issue. May Or may not occur with 257 00:20:15.950 --> 00:20:23.180 the with that pregnancy, but post abortion traumatic syndrome is also a real issue 258 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:29.660 and can be devastating. And he said if they abhort, they they're adding 259 00:20:29.700 --> 00:20:33.859 a new level of another trauma that they are going to have to deal with. 260 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:36.809 Yeah, which, of course, is is even worse because it's not 261 00:20:36.930 --> 00:20:40.970 only them, but now it's also as child. Yeah, so in terms 262 00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:44.130 of the extra support, yeah, well, in terms of the extra support, 263 00:20:44.170 --> 00:20:48.089 I mean I think with if we encounter a woman in this situation, 264 00:20:48.170 --> 00:20:51.720 assuring her that we have churches that will walk with their, stand with their 265 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:56.680 I mean one of the things with any kind of depression is loneliness and people 266 00:20:56.759 --> 00:21:00.119 feeling alone, people feeling isolated, people feeling like there's no one that cares, 267 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:04.910 and letting them know, reassuring them they're there are people that care. 268 00:21:04.910 --> 00:21:08.029 Yeah, in this city, this is often times my statement. In this 269 00:21:08.150 --> 00:21:12.509 city they're literally hundreds of churches, with people in those churches that want to 270 00:21:12.589 --> 00:21:15.789 walk with you through this pregnancy? Yeah, can we connect you with one 271 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:22.220 of them and just letting them know? And I think in these situations not. 272 00:21:22.259 --> 00:21:25.900 I think. I know in these situations we need to be very intentional 273 00:21:25.980 --> 00:21:30.900 about how the words that we use. We need to be very intentional about 274 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:34.450 the tone of our voice, we need to be very intentional about really understanding 275 00:21:34.529 --> 00:21:41.250 this person's in mental anguish. This person is struggling mentally and though we mightn't 276 00:21:41.329 --> 00:21:45.809 connect with that, like, certainly again, I can't. Next with postpartum 277 00:21:45.849 --> 00:21:51.000 depression. And really, you know, I've been bummed before, but I've 278 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:55.640 never been like clinically depressed. I don't know what all of that entails, 279 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:57.440 you know, when you start talking about medications and all that stuff, like, 280 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:00.710 I don't know about all that stuff. I don't know that world of 281 00:22:02.589 --> 00:22:07.269 medicine and I have some skepticism about that right, about psychiatric drugs and how 282 00:22:07.309 --> 00:22:10.309 good they are and all that stuff. But just because I have some skepticism 283 00:22:10.349 --> 00:22:12.910 about it doesn't mean I write it off completely. And again I try to 284 00:22:12.950 --> 00:22:15.339 stay in my lane. Right now. I don't know about all that stuff. 285 00:22:15.339 --> 00:22:18.259 So I'm one of the things I'm not going to do is I'm not 286 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:21.259 going to Poopoo that stuff. Hey, I'm going to ride away if I 287 00:22:21.420 --> 00:22:25.859 can get her away from that abortion center. And then with some follow up, 288 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:29.259 let's say I've sent her to the pregnancy center down the road, I've 289 00:22:29.299 --> 00:22:32.890 gotten her contact info, I'll probably would hand it off to you or one 290 00:22:32.890 --> 00:22:34.930 of the female counselors at that point. Yeah, the follow up from that 291 00:22:36.049 --> 00:22:40.569 would be connecting her with a medical professional, or at least following up and 292 00:22:40.609 --> 00:22:42.970 saying, Hey, did the pregnancy center that they help get you connected with 293 00:22:44.009 --> 00:22:47.400 a medical professional, because quite likely that that could happen if she shared with 294 00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:49.039 them, and she may not have shared with them. So it might be 295 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:53.200 on you to connect her with the medical professional. Yeah, and then again 296 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:57.480 following up with can we connect you with a mentor, because to me that 297 00:22:57.710 --> 00:23:03.910 may even go further than connecting her with a doctor or some kind of counselor 298 00:23:03.029 --> 00:23:07.470 something like that. The fact that there are people in this thing with her 299 00:23:07.470 --> 00:23:11.390 who could be then invite her to church. I mean, listen, God 300 00:23:11.470 --> 00:23:15.980 can break through in those situation and alleviate any kind of depression, fear of 301 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:18.460 depression, and I think that's what we're talking about really. We're not talking 302 00:23:18.500 --> 00:23:23.900 about maybe dealing with the actual depression or encounter woman at the abortion center. 303 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:27.690 We're talking about dealing with the fear that that could happen exactly. Although you 304 00:23:27.769 --> 00:23:32.529 know, down the road, we I. If Mentor or a counselor is 305 00:23:32.569 --> 00:23:34.769 following a woman through the birth of their child, you may encounter someone who's 306 00:23:34.769 --> 00:23:38.849 actually then in depression. But right now this situation that arose was just the 307 00:23:40.009 --> 00:23:42.519 fear. Yeah, of what I think for me, like just going through 308 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:47.720 this. I breezed through this article when you sent it over, but I'm 309 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:52.240 learning something like to me this pretty profound, which is that not? I 310 00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:56.470 mean a new postpartum depression was a real thing. Yeah, but didn't really 311 00:23:56.549 --> 00:24:00.230 understand, like, gosh, it's more than just their bum because they don't 312 00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:03.269 have a baby anymore. Else kind of what my thinking was, like they're 313 00:24:03.269 --> 00:24:07.990 missing the fact that they're pregnant or whatever. Yeah, this is more than 314 00:24:08.109 --> 00:24:11.980 what you, I guess, what they call the baby blues. And so 315 00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:15.460 to me this is enlightening at least knowing that this is a this is a 316 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:19.180 reality for yeah, and it and what what went through my mind with I 317 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:25.210 think like you said, I think the mentorship is critical, very critical for 318 00:24:25.329 --> 00:24:27.690 this woman. She's going to need a lot of support. Is What Dr 319 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:32.890 Matt said and what the art of what the articles I read said. There 320 00:24:33.089 --> 00:24:37.450 for the Church or whoever is a pointing a mentor, if your city does 321 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:41.960 that, and I hope that more and more cities will be doing that, 322 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:45.680 a mentor from a with the backing of a church to follow this woman. 323 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:49.480 That mentor needs to know this is going to be intense, because there are 324 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:53.470 some people who are willing to take that on as a mentor. Yeah, 325 00:24:53.829 --> 00:24:57.990 there are different levels of what people are willing to give as a mentor and 326 00:24:59.109 --> 00:25:02.190 in in this case this is going to be someone that is it's going to 327 00:25:02.269 --> 00:25:04.589 be intense, and so it needs to be a mentor who is willing to 328 00:25:06.230 --> 00:25:08.700 be involved in the ideal one would probably be someone who has been through it 329 00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:15.339 herself. But we wrote out a list of things that we should do as 330 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:21.059 as sidewalk counselors, and I think those are important. They're kind of the 331 00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:27.769 the take home list. All right, but don't minimize the issue is is 332 00:25:29.569 --> 00:25:34.650 the first thing, which we've said, a doctor needs to know she's pregnant 333 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:38.880 and worried about postpartum depression? If so, you need to find that out. 334 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:44.759 Yeah, recommend a second opinion. If a doctor has referred her to 335 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:48.240 the abortion center. Yeah, then for sure she definitely doesn't need to go 336 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:49.950 back to that. You need to go find not only a second opinion, 337 00:25:49.990 --> 00:25:55.630 you need a new doctor. Yeah, talking about that treatment is available. 338 00:25:55.670 --> 00:25:59.150 Oftentimes just knowing that will help them. Yeah, they may not. They 339 00:25:59.190 --> 00:26:03.750 may not have known that speaking with a high risk doctor, having that available, 340 00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:07.619 reminding her it's temporary. I don't know if we mentioned that so far, 341 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:14.259 but that's really important and this is a good counseling technique for anyone we 342 00:26:14.339 --> 00:26:18.049 encounter at the abortion center. They're usually in a situation that's temporary. Yeah, 343 00:26:18.130 --> 00:26:22.569 yeah, a good statement is don't employ a permanent solution for a temporary 344 00:26:22.650 --> 00:26:26.849 theiry issue. Yeah, exact portion is a permanent yeah. Yeah, it's 345 00:26:26.930 --> 00:26:30.450 permanent in the sense that it permanently ends the life of a baby. Yeah, 346 00:26:32.009 --> 00:26:33.880 and I didn't write this one down in the article, but it occurred 347 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:38.839 to me to be on the lookout of women who have an unusual level of 348 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.480 detachment from the baby growing in them, and I have seen that. I've 349 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:48.750 never heard it labeled as postpartum depression before. Yeah, but I had one 350 00:26:48.789 --> 00:26:52.349 woman, I think we spoke about her in the past some other podcast, 351 00:26:52.710 --> 00:26:56.910 that kept saying she agreed with everything I said but kept saying, I just 352 00:26:56.029 --> 00:26:59.589 don't want this baby. Yeah, I don't love this baby, I don't 353 00:26:59.630 --> 00:27:06.220 want this baby. Had I known more about postpartum depression, that statement might 354 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:10.500 have been a tipoff to me. Is there something more than just sin? 355 00:27:10.859 --> 00:27:15.700 Yeah, is there something going on that is chemic cold, which I assume 356 00:27:15.049 --> 00:27:18.690 that it has to do the whole amount of moments right, issues and things 357 00:27:18.730 --> 00:27:22.089 like that. One of the things that comes to mind for me is that 358 00:27:22.210 --> 00:27:26.130 we do often times see, and so I said, I don't know that 359 00:27:26.170 --> 00:27:32.039 I've ever encountered that situation, but I quite possibly didn't just didn't know about 360 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:34.920 it, because oftentimes, but we do see is somebody come to the abortion 361 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:40.000 center who just had a baby, right they when we see a lot women 362 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:42.440 come in with a baby carrier, not just a car seat but a baby 363 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:45.589 carrier in the backs, that they they have a newborn in the car and 364 00:27:45.670 --> 00:27:49.750 just got pregnant again. Yeah, and it could be. I mean I 365 00:27:51.069 --> 00:27:55.029 think more than anything else, it's like, well, we don't want to 366 00:27:55.029 --> 00:27:59.420 have another baby right now because financially, your relation or whatever, we don't 367 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:02.259 want to do this. But it could be that postpartum depression thing. Yep, 368 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:04.299 there's dealing with that from that last pregnancy. Yeah, being able to 369 00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:07.660 speak to that acknowledge that, I think, could be helpful. or a 370 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:11.500 flat affect. I've seen that the really flat affect as the women are looking 371 00:28:11.500 --> 00:28:15.609 at their baby on the ultrasound. That's not normal. That is not normal 372 00:28:15.809 --> 00:28:21.410 and it didn't occur to me that that could be another tipoff of is there 373 00:28:21.609 --> 00:28:26.130 some sort of a depression, a postpartum depression, going on? The last 374 00:28:26.289 --> 00:28:30.759 point is just keep pointing her to focus on God, and we added it 375 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:34.000 some verses at the end of this article to help. But never neglect that 376 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:38.119 just because it's serious, just because it's real. This is a real medical 377 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:44.390 condition that does need to be addressed, but that doesn't mean you neglect. 378 00:28:44.430 --> 00:28:49.230 Yeah, helping them to put their focus on God and right minding them to 379 00:28:49.589 --> 00:28:55.390 really trust him and turn their lives over to him. So I think that's 380 00:28:55.859 --> 00:29:00.380 that's basically what what what we discovered. I you know, we re these 381 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:06.220 through this, but if anyone has further questions. Of course feel free to 382 00:29:07.099 --> 00:29:11.930 contact us and and do some research on your own. It's I think it's 383 00:29:11.009 --> 00:29:15.490 more important than I had realized the more that I researched it. Yeah, 384 00:29:15.569 --> 00:29:19.009 and I would say it's good to have in your phone. This is what 385 00:29:19.089 --> 00:29:22.410 I do a lot of times with different topics and things like that. I'll 386 00:29:22.450 --> 00:29:26.200 look for articles and then on my phone I'll save in the notes section a 387 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:30.720 link to that article, and that's something you could actually you could text it 388 00:29:30.839 --> 00:29:33.680 over to somebody if you're I mean to me. I can think in my 389 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:36.119 scenario, if I'm dealing with a dad on the sidewalk, he says, 390 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:38.349 well, she's in there because he's dealing with this was part of them depression 391 00:29:38.470 --> 00:29:41.950 and just really doesn't want to have another baby and deal with this again. 392 00:29:42.509 --> 00:29:45.029 A man, can I shoot you of an article just for years to check 393 00:29:45.069 --> 00:29:48.950 out? I'm going to encourage him along those lines. Yeah, I do 394 00:29:48.109 --> 00:29:51.069 think, though, of course. You know I've said we need to be 395 00:29:51.230 --> 00:29:53.539 careful with our tone and we need to be careful with our language. You 396 00:29:53.539 --> 00:29:59.619 don't want to come across as like judge or condemning, but we do need 397 00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:03.819 to be forthright, we do need to set out the reality like you understand 398 00:30:03.859 --> 00:30:06.220 it. You're going to kill your baby if you get through with an abortion. 399 00:30:06.339 --> 00:30:07.970 I don't think we dance around that. I think we tell the truth. 400 00:30:07.970 --> 00:30:12.809 Yeah, we do it graciously, as graciously as possible, but yeah, 401 00:30:12.890 --> 00:30:15.329 for me to take away is just acknowledging that this is a thing, 402 00:30:15.410 --> 00:30:18.130 that this is an issue. So and encourage you guys just to look for 403 00:30:18.250 --> 00:30:22.240 articles that you can have maybe, like I do, save it in your 404 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:26.079 phone. Yeah, check out this article. Sidewalks for lifecom is where we 405 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:30.480 put these articles out. Maybe at some point the future will mesh the two 406 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:33.359 websites, the website for the podcast specifically in the website that we have the 407 00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:37.990 articles on together, but for now you can go find the article sidewalks for 408 00:30:37.109 --> 00:30:41.589 lifecom. That's our training and equipping website as well. So just some sidewalk 409 00:30:41.630 --> 00:30:45.589 training and stuff that are there. Beyond the articles, we have other things, 410 00:30:45.630 --> 00:30:48.470 videos and stuff, and then, of course, the podcast website, 411 00:30:48.950 --> 00:30:53.539 Gospel centered prolifecom to check out our podcasts and be able to search for keywords 412 00:30:53.579 --> 00:30:56.539 and things like that for subjects that we've covered in the past. We do 413 00:30:56.619 --> 00:31:00.940 appreciate you guys listening and if you need to reach out to me, you 414 00:31:00.980 --> 00:31:03.690 can reach me Daniel at Love Life Dot Org. You reach her Vicky at 415 00:31:03.769 --> 00:31:07.329 Love Life Dot Org. We'd love to hear from you, but until next 416 00:31:07.329 --> 00:31:18.680 time, God bless God, bless Y'all our love for love. Give me 417 00:31:19.480 --> 00:31:32.720 our love for gratitude. I know it will cost me my life. Nothing's 418 00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:34.470 too precious in some you