Postpartum Support Charleston is here for the 1 in 7 moms struggling with maternal mental illness
By Jenny Peterson
Delivering a baby and heading home to a space filled with cribs, blankets and bottles is supposed to feel like a milestone. The picture-perfect image: soft light through the nursery window, a sleeping newborn, a mother finally exhaling. It’s supposed to feel like arrival.
But for many women, it can feel like unraveling.
Hormones surge and crash with a force few are prepared for. Sleep becomes fragmented. Identity shifts overnight. Support systems – especially when strained or unreliable – can fall short in ways that feel devastating.
And then there are the thoughts, often laced with guilt. Why don’t I feel happy? What’s wrong with me?
Postpartum Support Charleston
Help often comes too late, or it’s misdiagnosed. That was the tragic impetus behind the nonprofit Postpartum Support Charleston, founded in 2000.
“It was started by three women in Mount Pleasant, one who lost her daughter to postpartum depression at age 33 when she had a two-month-old,” said Elaine DeaKyne, executive director of Postpartum Support Charleston. “The mental health treatment that she received was awful. Her family and friends created the organization because they wanted to make sure nobody went through what she went through and that it was preventable.”
Postpartum Depression Support
Postpartum depression is not rare. It’s a medical condition affecting approximately one in seven women in the United States, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Symptoms can include persistent sadness, anxiety, loss of interest, difficulty bonding with a baby and, in some cases, frightening thoughts.
DeaKyne first discovered the organization when she personally found herself struggling after the birth of her daughter. She found comfort in its support groups and connection to resources, including a mental health therapist trained specifically in postpartum depression.
Inspired by her experience, she began volunteering, expanding the support groups from monthly to several times a week, along with social activities like art therapy, social walks and gardening.
Now, as executive director, she continues to build what she once needed. The James Island office is open Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with staff available to connect mothers to resources.
“It’s all peer-led moms helping moms,” DeaKyne said. “We’ve all gone through this ourselves and make it known to moms that they’re not alone.”
Moms Helping Moms
Postpartum Support Charleston is supported through grants, including from Roper St. Francis Healthcare System and HCA Healthcare Summerville Hospital, along with private donations and community partnerships.
Those efforts help fund programs like Beyond Delivery, which provides a free meal to any new mother in the Tricounty area, whether they are struggling or not.
“Every mom needs a little bit of help, especially in those first couple weeks,” DeaKyne said.
Mom’s Run Fundraiser
The organization’s largest fundraiser, the Mom’s Run, returns Saturday, May 9 at Philip Simmons High School. The Mother’s Day weekend tradition celebrating its 23rd year features a 5K, a free one-mile walk and a kids dash, bringing families together to support postpartum resources in a welcoming, inclusive environment.
As awareness grows, fewer women are suffering in silence.
And for many mothers, that support can mean the difference between simply surviving in the dark and finding their way back into the light.
To learn more or register for the Mom’s Run, visit www.postpartumsupportchs.org.
