Chicago mother leads crusade to save women from the `monster' that killed her daughter

Jet, Oct 28, 2002 by Nicole Walker

Slightly more than a year has passed since Carol Blocker lost her daughter, Melanie Stokes, a 41-year-old pharmaceutical sales manager, to postpartum psychosis--a severe mental disease that affects I in 1,000 new moms. But the pain caused by her death is still fresh in the heart of the Chicago mother and grandmother.

And so is her anger that so little is known or done about this "monster."

"I cannot believe that my daughter is not with us this day and age in America," Mrs. Blocker, a 64-year-old substitute teacher, tells JET magazine. "I had never heard of postpartum psychosis, nor had my friends nor neighbors. The illness tricks the family members because they don't know a thing to do. The illness tells these mothers that they have to die."

On June 11, 2001, just 3 1/2 months after giving birth to her first child, a baby girl she and her husband, Dr. Sam Stokes, named Sommer Skyy, Melanie jumped to her death from a 12th floor window of a Chicago hotel (JET, July 2, 2001).

Melanie's suicide and her odd behavior leading up to it were the result of postpartum psychosis, which strikes in the first two to three weeks after childbirth and is marked by depression, severe insomnia, extreme anxiety, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations and suicidal and homicidal thoughts. Little is understood about the disorder and many physicians are not trained to recognize the symptoms.

"After I lost my daughter, I realized that many, many women have suffered with this illness," Mrs. Blocker says. "I started getting phone calls from people all over America telling me that their daughter had just shot herself, had just drowned herself, had just jumped in front of a train. And then I realized that the reason no one has ever done anything about this illness is because it happens to new moms. If anything happens to a new mom, most people are not that interested--they're more interested in the sex of the new baby."

While postpartum psychosis is the most severe and rarest postpartum reaction, experts say that most women suffer with varying degrees of depression after giving birth. As many as 80 percent of new mothers undergo the baby blues, a feeling of letdown after the highly charged experience of childbirth, and one in 10 new mothers suffer with the more severe postpartum depression, characterized by fatigue, sadness, hopelessness, guilt, inadequacy, worthlessness, a lack of interest in their babies and a fear of harming their babies and themselves.

Instead of allowing grief to consume her after her daughter's death, Mrs. Blocker sprang into action, launching a personal crusade against the monster that claimed her daughter's life. She formed the Melanie Blocker Stokes Foundation to honor the memory of her late daughter and to raise awareness for postpartum disorders.

She hands out information on the illnesses and talks about the disorders to whoever will listen. Families call her to share their stories and seek solace. Mothers in prison for harming their babies write to her. Recently, Mrs. Blocker hosted Melanie's Walk along Chicago's lakefront. About 300 people wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with the motto "Don't Pardon Postpartum" marched through Grant Park carrying black balloons and holding banners bearing the names of 21 mothers affected by postpartum illnesses.

Mrs. Blocker also is pushing for legislation on the issue. Her daughter's stow, and that of other mothers affected by postpartum disorders, spurred Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) to introduce a bill to Congress last summer to address the need for research and treatment for women afflicted by postpartum depression and psychosis. The House Subcommittee on Health is expected to hold hearings early next year on the bill.

If passed, the Melanie Stokes Postpartum Depression and Care Act would provide comprehensive treatment and support for women afflicted by postpartum depression or psychosis and for their families, and intensify efforts to discover causes of postpartum disorders and develop better diagnosis and treatment methods.

In addition to rallying support to fight postpartum disorders, Mrs. Blocker is busy caring for her 20-month-old grandchild, Sommer, with help from her sisters, Joyce Oates and Vera Wood Anderson. Sommer's father, who decided to continue with plans he and Melanie made to move to Georgia, visits his daughter every other weekend and calls regularly.

By all appearances, Sommer is a healthy, happy toddler. While Mrs. Blocker talks about Melanie during the interview, Melanie's little girl toddles around the photo studio, smiling and laughing. When Mrs. Blocker calls her name, Sommer runs, laughing, trying to engage her "Bammy" in a game of tag.

"We love her to pieces, and she knows it," Mrs. Blocker says, smiling. "Her mommy would have loved her. That illness robbed Sommer of a wonderful mother--and I don't want this to happen to anyone else."