An ‘isolating’ experience: Staten Island mother advocates for mental health care after traumatic birth

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island mother is trying to shed light on an often overlooked health need: Mental health care and support for mothers who’ve experienced a traumatic childbirth.

Alexsis Gilles, of Grasmere, has started a support group for mothers whose deliveries were frightening and complicated, as was hers. She also has started a petition urging the state to require hospitals to provide structured followup care, including mental health care, for such women.

Gilles gave birth to her daughter, Ella Rae, two years ago after a very challenging pregnancy and a delivery that nearly cost her life, she said. Looking back, the licensed social worker for the NYC Board of Education said she needed more support recovering from the trauma once she returned home to care for her daughter.

According to Gilles, her pregnancy was marked by: hyperemesis gravidarum, or severe vomiting; daily injections of blood thinners; gestational diabetes; carpal tunnel syndrome; and close monitoring for pre-eclampsia.

And during labor, she hemorrhaged severely, nearly bleeding to death, Gilles recalled. This took place after two failed inductions and 11 epidural injections when she ultimately delivered her daughter by emergency cesarian section when it was discovered that the child’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her in three places.

In pain, Gilles struggled mentally and physically in the weeks following the birth, she recalled, despite the support of her fiancee, and close family and friends.

Mentally, she was not good, she said: ”I wouldn’t say it was depression. It was health anxiety. I definitely had crazy, intrusive thoughts of something bad happening to me."

She now is putting effort into ensuring specialized follow-up care, including home visits, for those experiencing a similar difficult birth.

“I think there needs to be more of a formal protocol ... maybe a therapist who knows about postpartum care, just to follow up for the first six months,’' she explained.

To that end, she’s created the support group, “The Post Care,“ on Staten Island, for women who’ve endured similar experiences, including premature birth. And she’s taken to change.org to file a petition in the hopes of reaching New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Attorney General Letitia James and the state Department of Health.

She said she realizes that funding is needed for this type of hospital staff. She added she hopes that grants might get programs started at Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, where she delivered her daughter.

“Funding for social workers focusing on traumatic births — that would be the end goal,’' Gilles explained, adding that a structured schedule of home visits would be ideal.

And while Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, does not currently offer a perinatal program, discussions are underway to bring such programming to the borough in the future, a spokesperson for the hospital said. “Our team recognizes the critical need and is committed to advancing efforts to make them accessible to our community,” the spokesperson said.

Richmond University Medical Center offers comprehensive bereavement counseling and resources to parents who have suffered a loss, and a hospital spokesman said the service could very well be expanded to include traumatic birthing experiences.

Emotionally overwhelming

“I have come to realize how isolating and emotionally overwhelming such an experience can be,’' Gilles said in her change.org petition, which has so far garnered 68 verified signatures. ”While childbirth is commonly celebrated as a joyful milestone, for many women, including myself, it can be marked by fear, complications, and lasting psychological effects.“

On Staten Island, and indeed across much of the United States, policies surrounding postpartum care often fail to meet the genuine needs of mothers who have experienced a traumatic birth, she stated in the change.org petition.

“The physical and emotional recovery from such an experience can be extensive, yet the medical system does not always provide the necessary follow-up care to support healing and mental health recovery,” Gilles said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated on its website that although 13% of surveyed women with a recent live birth reported depressive symptoms during the postpartum period, one in five did not report a health-care provider asking about depression during prenatal visits, and one in eight reported they were not asked about depression during postpartum visits.

Protocol does exist in New York encouraging physicians to screen women for signs of depression, and physicians are instructed to connect them with state or county mental health resources if they suspect a patient might be experiencing mental health issues after giving birth.

But most hospitals are not mandated to provide sufficient postpartum follow-up that aligns with the severity of what many women are experiencing, Gilles said.

“By requiring hospitals in Staten Island to offer comprehensive follow-up care, including mental health support and physical rehabilitation services, we can drastically improve the quality of life for new mothers,’' her petition stated.

The Post Care group gives women a chance to talk about their experiences with others who have gone through the same thing, she said.

It started informally: Meetings were planned on social media and took place in her home and in local businesses. It developed into a close-knit group of friends, she said. But now she said she hopes to expand it to weekly meetings with a therapy aspect to them. She said she plans to host them and offer guidance, based on her experiences and her training as a licensed master social worker.

“I’m trying to bring attention to this,’' she said. ”It’s not a ‘regular mom thing.’ We didn’t have a regular experience."