Long before Brooke Shields wrote a book about it and Tom Cruise sparred with Matt Lauer about it, Ruth Craven suffered from postpartum depression. On December 5, 1999, Ruth took her own life, just two-and-a-half months after the birth of her first child. She was 33 years old. Before PPD, friends and family say Ruth was a happy, positive and stable person. After giving birth, the sudden shift in Ruth’s mood took everyone by surprise.
Her mother, Helena Bradford, believes if Ruth had received proper treatment, she would be alive today. “Before Ruth was stricken with postpartum depression, I had never even heard of it. I want women and their families to be more prepared and informed than we were, so they won’t have to go through what we did,” Bradford says.
In 2000, Bradford started the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation for PPD awareness. For the past 10 years, the non-profit organization has provided support groups for women and their families and has served as a resource to the medical community. Bradford wants the community to know that PPD is temporary and treatable, if properly diagnosed.
Risa Mason-Cohen, PsyD, licensed clinical psychologist and Executive Director of the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation says, “The 2010 Moms’ Run is dedicated to the proper screening, diagnosis and treatment of postpartum depression. There is a universal pulse that beats inside every woman’s soul; women across the globe can relate to the sense of imbalance, fatigue and other physical/emotional transformations that go hand in hand with early motherhood. This event is for all of the mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, girlfriends and husbands out there who have felt the sting of this illness. For the rest of the population, the Moms’ Run is a perfect opportunity to enjoy some family friendly fun while supporting a very worthy cause.”
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