 One of the ways that the stigma around perinatal depression affects women is they tend to internalize There's something wrong with me that I'm not enjoying my pregnancy There's something wrong with me that I don't feel bonded with my child They don't understand that they're having a medical condition And so this is one of the reasons why having the screening and intervention is so important I couldn't believe that I had a baby It was beautiful and I was happy. I was really happy. But then, I don't know, I started feeling different I felt stuck Patients like Veronica have a lot of denial around this. There's shame There is this feeling like it can't be me. Before I didn't believe in depression. I always thought that People who was weak, it was the one who was in depression. Not me who is very strong and have a you know high self-esteem and you know, not me People don't realize how common depression and pregnancy is. It's upwards of about 12 to 20 percent depending on the studies that you look at So we screen all women in pregnancy when they enter pregnancy and then mid-pregnancy And then we also screen them postpartum. Are you feeling depressed? I don't feel depressed. No, I just we just screen everyone and it removes all the stereotype It removes the shame it removes the finger pointing and it makes it a safe place for women to be able to get their care And right now our screening rates are about 98 percent for at least one screening We realized that screening was really only the first step that screening only uncovers the problem But it doesn't treat the problem So the nice thing about the perinatal depression screening program is that the entire program takes the team At Kaiser Permanente we have this unique advantage of being able to work seamlessly with our Mental health colleagues. We have classes. We have groups Medication is also an option for some people. I started doing all that, you know, really fast You know going to the therapist and joining the groups in the phone calls and all that it was just Very good. Prior to this screening program only five percent of the women in our system who were identified with moderate to moderately severe depression We're receiving treatment Since we implemented this program 98 percent of those women have been receiving treatment and care So that that's a wonderful outcome for our members You got her? She's quarter head. She's beautiful What I hear from the women in my group is that they go from feeling like there's something really wrong with me And I feel defective to I feel like a capable mom Who's actually providing in a really positive way for my baby and my family. When women have depression That isn't identified. I think it affects first of all the woman herself and her well-being and her ability to function But in this situation, it's kind of a double whammy because she's also about to care for or or caring for a young child Kaiser Permanente has really made a commitment to looking at mental health as a part of overall total health Really kind of putting the head back on the body. And so this is a really important program that moves that forward