Mom Goes to the ER for Postpartum Depression but Was Told She Had Nothing To Be Depressed About

postpartum depression Delsie Martin Neepawa Health Centre suicide

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Sep 13, 08:14 am

Photo: (Photo : FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

A mom from Manitoba with postpartum depression said she was dismissed last month by an emergency room physician when she sought help after having suicidal thoughts.

Delsie Martin, who has a two-year-old daughter and a six-month-old son, said she had been having persistent suicidal thoughts when she asked her husband to take her on a Sunday afternoon in August to the Neepawa Health Centre.

She did not get the service she wanted, though, as a doctor at the hospital in the southwestern town sent her away without referrals to other services or any treatment.

Martin sought treatment after having thoughts of suicide

According to Martin, the doctor gestured to her husband and told her she had no reason to be depressed as she had this wonderful man sitting there and their two children at home. The mom of two told the doctor that she was taking medication for postpartum depression, a condition that Martin also suffered after having her first baby.

She said that a health-care team in her home community in Manitoba's Interlake was treating her. However, Martin reached a breaking point while visiting her family in Neepawa.

She said her thoughts that day became overwhelming, and they were racing so fast. She added that suddenly, the thoughts of dying that she was able to logically talk herself out of before were becoming a lot more logical.

She said the doctor first asked her what kind of birth control she used. Then he told her that she should not have any more kids. She also told him about other sources of stress in her life, such as finances, child care, and schooling.

Martin said the doctor asked her if she knew what financial stress was. He then referred them to some sort of financial planner and said that she would be fine if she got financial planning and won't have babies.

Mom said she left the hospital feeling ashamed and judged

The doctor said after a 20-minute visit that there was nothing he could do for her. He told Martin that nobody could help her and that only she could help herself. Martin acknowledged the doctor had a point, but her postpartum depression brain only heard the "nobody can help you" part.

She said she left the hospital feeling judged and ashamed without any referrals to other services. Martin, who has worked as a mental health support worker and social worker for the previous decade, said there is a stigma surrounding mental health, especially regarding postpartum depression.

Martin knew what happened to her in the hospital was not right, and she grew more upset about the interaction with the doctor in the following days. She told CBC that someone is going to go and attempt suicide and possibly die by suicide if they are going to get treated like that.