Postpartum Resource Group Wins Federal Funding for Mental Health Services

In 2014, a handful of mothers began gathering as a support group in the office of founder Jana Sund, a certified nurse midwife. The group grew gradually and organically, committed to supporting survivors of postpartum mood disorders as both a resource by itself and a connector to other resources.

Then, late last year, the Flathead County-based Postpartum Resource Group won $25,000 in federal funding through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Cross-Sectional Innovation to Improve Rural Postpartum Mental Health Challenge, one of five awardees nationwide to be selected through the competitive process and one of only three in its category.

The organization, for which Sund remains president, has come a long way since 2014, even if its grassroots structure and focus are unchanged, and the funding allows it to further its mission of supporting mothers and addressing postpartum mood disorders by accelerating the launch of its doula program called The Network and hiring a full-time director for it.

“We laid a lot of bricks, so it’s kind of fun to see the structure come out of the bricks we’ve laid over so many years,” said Maggie Rogness, a mother of three and the group’s treasurer, said. “We’re all very passionate. We’re all moms, and most of us are survivors.”

Read more: https://flatheadbeacon.com/2021/04/06/postpartum-resource-group-wins-federal-funding-for-mental-health-services/