The Eatontown group gives comfort to mothers with postpartum depression

EATONTOWN – Every night as the sun went down, Clarisse Mendozas clenched her jaw.

There was so much anxiety running through me, I would be gritting my teeth, she said. You just didn’t know what kind of night you would have with the baby.

Mendoza, a 28-year-old Bradley Beach resident, became a mother in October with the birth of son Rafael, who arrived two weeks early. For the next two months, I couldn’t sleep, she said. As tired as I was, my brain wouldn’t shut off. I’m sleeping so it was a surprise for me.

Mendoza wondered: Is this the new normal? Frustration boiled over.

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It took me a long time to come to terms with my anger, she said. I would get very angry, sad, annoyed, all these emotions.

By mid-December, he said, he knew he needed help.

Mendoza was dealing with perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD), which is more commonly known as the umbrella term for postpartum depression. She felt isolated but not. The National Institutes of Health estimate that up to 20% of women experience significant symptoms of depression or anxiety during or shortly after pregnancy.

For her first Mother’s Day, Mendoza wants others in her shoes to know that they are not alone and that help is not far away.

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In 2011, Red Bank resident Lisa Tremayne launched a PMAD support group at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch. Tremayne, a nurse and mother of two (now in their 20s), realized that she too had suffered from the condition after giving birth, and what a difference it would have made to connect with her peers at the time.