Dozens of families showed up to McArthur Island to raise awareness about perinatal mental illness (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Silvia Senna

Flora's Walk

Flora’s Walk fundraiser brings awareness to perinatal mental illness

May 6, 2024 | 3:20 PM

KAMLOOPS — The rate of perinatal mental illness has risen from 1-in-5 pre-pandemic to 1-in-3, with 40 per cent of women and 20 per cent of men in Canada currently suffering from a perinatal mental illness. On Saturday (May 4), the first annual Flora’s Walk — a fundraiser for perinatal mental health — happened in Kamloops.

Flora Babakhani was a Canadian mother who died by suicide two months and ten days after giving birth to her daughter due to undiagnosed postpartum psychosis.

“Bringing a baby into this world can be really lonely. It’s a beautiful thing. But also there’s a lot of stigma around it,” said Kayla Wolfe, the event’s organizer. “It is mind boggling that there’s not as much support as there needs to be. So many people are in this alone and my goal is that people don’t have to be alone doing it. I think we are all better together. And it is a very important time in people’s lives.”

Spreading awareness and sharing personal stories can be part of the healing process.

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“Even though our voice shakes, we need to speak up on these incredibly important issues. Talking about it is hard, but it’s important and families need to be able to come together,” said Larissa Deneault, a mother of two, who has experienced postpartum challenges. “The really big part of it is building that community that will help life givers through their tough journeys, having the people who are around you who will recognize that.”

Larissa decided to speak up to help other mothers.

“Don’t struggle alone. Just speak your truth, if your voice shakes. We have this tremendous desire when babies come to ‘hold, baby, hold the baby.’ We need to hold the mothers as well.”

And that’s exactly what Kayla hopes to do in Kamloops.

“Everyone says it takes a village to raise a child, but that village just doesn’t show up. When you have a baby, you have to build it. And so my goal is to continue to build that village to support families in the Kamloops and surrounding areas.”

Local support can be found at Lighthouse Therapy and Birth Matters.