During her pregnancy, Ekstrum participated in Michigan State University’s Reach Out, Stay Strong Essentials, or ROSE program. The federally funded research program provided Ekstrum with education and skills needed to prevent or address postpartum depression, which impacts nearly one in eight women who give birth in the United States.  

Ekstrum knew that the “baby blues” were common. These are emotional changes like sadness and irritability due to hormonal shifts, fatigue and stress in the aftermath of giving birth that often subside after a week or so. But thanks in part to her participation in the ROSE program, she also knew that two weeks of crying postpartum was much more serious. She was going through something else.  

“My emotions were really heightened,” Ekstrum says. “I was struggling with always being sad but also feeling kind of numb. I had thoughts running through my head like, ‘The baby doesn’t even need me. Why am I here?’ And having those thoughts was really, really scary.”