K. Surya, counsellor at the Kudumbashree’s Snehitha gender help desk in the district, recalls the strangulation of an infant allegedly by its mother who suffered from depression during COVID-19. “The incident had become a talking point. Tele-counselling sessions organised by Snehitha also saw stressed out pregnant women and those who had given birth reach out for support.”
Snehitha counsellors could well understand what the women were going through because their own experiences during the pandemic were not dissimilar, says Ms. Surya.
This prompted the rollout of ‘For you,’ a special programme to address postpartum depression in the Nanniyode model gender resource centre (GRCs) of the Kudumbashree. ‘For you’ is intended to create awareness among pregnant women and their families of postpartum depression and how to take care of women suffering from the condition.
