Postpartum Mood Disorder (added link to project at bottom of post.)

Following the birth of a child, some women experience a mental health disorder called Postpartum Mood Disorder (I am unsure if the USA is the only place that uses this term). I am currently working on a Photo essay around this topic.

This is an important story for me because of my own experience with Postpartum Mood Disorder (PPMD). Having struggled with PPMD after the birth of my 2nd child I found myself feeling isolated and without support. I found myself fearful of sharing my experience because of my fear of what the general public visualize \"PPMD\" to be. What I found is more women than we realize suffer with PPMD. Inspired by the works of one of my favorite photographers, I decided I wanted to depict, visually, PPMD and how it isn't this scary ugly person we tend to visualize and instead is this beautiful person that we see every day. I want this to be a story that helps to celebrate,inspire, and advance the lives of women living with PPMD. I want this story to help advocate for those with PPMD and to help open the eyes of the public to this struggle so many of us women have been challenged with. This is not an essay about being ashamed to have PPMD this is a story I am hoping helps to empower those with PPMD and helps give awareness and support to this community of women.

My photo essay depicts portraits of women who are or have suffered PPMD along with an audio recording, in their voice, sharing an intimate moment or feeling that represents their experience with PPMD. My goal is sharing this project with women so they will find, instead of isolation, a connection. A bond.

I am interested in knowing how different cultures deal with PPMD and what terms they use to describe it. Any comments regarding this are greatly appreciated.

This is a link to my project. This project is in its infancy. It is growing and needs some fine tuning so please excuse any background noises and fluctuations in volume.
http://youtu.be/YseXDQB5V9o