Tea gathering for mothers

The Secret Garden Tea Company brings awareness to postpartum depression

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Reported by Mathilda De Villiers

The Secret Garden Tea Company opened their doors last week to host an event that brought women together to share their stories and experiences with postpartum depression.

Kathy and Erin Wyder, owners of the teahouse, wanted to do more fundraisers and decided to start with this event. 100 per cent of the proceeds went to Pacific Post Partum Support Society.

“I think it’s important to raise awareness about postpartum depression, so women are more aware as a mom or as a support position,” said Kathy Wyder.

Mothers at risk of postpartum depression

One in five mothers will experience postpartum depression. PPPSS is a non-profit organization that supports anyone with postpartum symptoms during pregnancy up until their youngest child is three years old.

“One of the biggest risk factors is that if you’ve had depression or anxiety in the past then you would be a high risk of having postpartum depression,” said Sheila Duffy, director at PPPSS.

Connecting the community together

The teahouse has been established for over 20 years. The idea behind it was to create an environment where people could come together for tea and food to connect with one another.

“I think with all the social media that’s going on today it’s really important to have a place where you can connect,” said Wyder. The teahouse does not provide Wi-Fi because they want to encourage people to talk to each other face to face.

Postpartum depression occurs when a new mother or a mother-to-be experiences feelings of anxiety or depression. Often it is a result of being completely overwhelmed and isolated. Many women feel that they are the only ones who are experiencing it and they don’t talk about how they are feeling, because of the stigma behind mental illness.

An attendee, Elisabeth Cooke is currently pregnant and even though she doesn’t have personal experience with postpartum depression, she wanted to attend the event to support it.

“Everyone’s really chatty and keen to meet people and tell each other their stories,” said Cooke.

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