Mom who had postpartum depression pushes for state screening
By Matthew K. Roy
Staff writer
PEABODY — Being a new mom was a fidgety hell for Lisa Waxman.
Her heart raced. She could not sit still. She could not eat or sleep.
"Worse yet," Waxman said, "I could not hold my new baby without crying."
The intense anxiety that gripped her almost immediately after she delivered her son in January 2007 was unrelenting. It only grew worse when she left the hospital and returned to her Peabody home.
"I certainly did not feel like his mother. I was sure he could do better than me," Waxman said. "I felt an overwhelming sense of regret that I had brought this baby into the world. I actually called my sister to suggest that she adopt him."
Three years later, Waxman is in a much healthier place. She survived postpartum depression and is now counseling others suffering through similar experiences. She is also advocating for legislation that would make Massachusetts the first state in the country to mandate that health care providers regularly screen for postpartum depression…
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