[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Steven D’Achille faced one of the most heartbreaking losses of his life in 2013, but he has used that pain to inspire him to make sure other new parents don’t suffer as he and his wife did.
Speaking to People on Thursday, Steven recalled the moment he heard his infant child, Adriana (inset), crying and knew that something terrible must have happened to his wife, Alexis, who had been suffering for weeks with severe postpartum depression and psychosis — which a handful of doctors hadn’t taken seriously. Minutes later, he discovered Alexis had attempted suicide. She was taken to a hospital and tragically passed away in the ICU on October 10, just two days later.
Since that devastating loss, D’Achille committed his life to make sure no other new parents struggle the way Alexis did. According to him, in the 15 days before her death, the couple had visited seven hospitals and facilities to seek help — none of them believed how severe Alexis’ condition was. The 39-year-old reflected:
“Alexis knew she was in trouble. She was abundantly clear with what she was scared would happen. But it was always, ‘Go home. You’re not crazy.’”
Ugh, so awful that nobody would help, especially since Alexis hadn’t been struggling with mental health issues before giving birth. In fact, her entire pregnancy and relationship with her husband had been blissful. She and Steven met at a party in 2008, he recalled:
“We locked eyes, and from then on, we were inseparable.”
One year later, they married and then got pregnant shortly after. Nothing about her journey toward motherhood was unusual either, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native shared:
“She was radiant and all the things you hear about pregnant women.”
Alexis gave birth on August 30, 2013, during a terrifying “code blue” delivery. Their daughter Adriana’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck multiple times, requiring more caution. Thankfully, she was born healthy. Unfortunately, the mother’s health quickly took a toll as the incident triggered postpartum depression, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, and postpartum psychosis — a rare mental illness that was likely caused in part by Alexis’ family history with bipolar disorder.
Steven, who outside of activism also works in his family’s restaurant business, explained:
“My wife believed that her first act of being a mother was damaging her daughter. She just unraveled.”
He also added:
“It was immediate, and every day was worse than the previous.”
There was one medical professional attempting to help the new mom – her obstetrician who prescribed antidepressants, though they didn’t help. D’Achille continued:
“She started overthinking everything. She’d hear phantom baby cries, so she couldn’t sleep. She wouldn’t eat. She lost 50 lbs. in five and a half weeks.”
So, so sad…
Soon after her death, her husband launched the Alexis Joy D’Achille Foundation to raise awareness and funds for those battling perinatal anxiety and mood disorders. Years later, in 2018, along with the support of the Allegheny Health Network, he opened the Alexis Joy D’Achille Center for Perinatal Mental Health at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh. It’s at this facility where Steven’s dream has become a reality. The center offers therapy and childcare services, among other things, for pregnant women, new moms, and their families. So far, the program has already treated around 6,000 women. Amazing!
Musing on his success, the dad shared:
“It’s too late for Alexis, but my daughter, God willing, is going to have children one day, and I don’t want her to face roadblocks we faced. We live in the greatest country in the world. How did a new mom not get the care that she needed?”
Brittany Kenna, a mother who utilized the services after experiencing anxiety following her firstborn’s birth in 2019, added:
“I spiraled after I had my daughter, but the psychiatrist there helped with my medication and therapy.”
She continues to rely on the center now that she is pregnant with her second child. She’s “trying to be proactive in this pregnancy and seeing [her] therapist at the center biweekly,” she noted:
“It’s nice to have that same support behind me. I’d still be lost had I not found the center.”
An estimated one in eight new moms in the US are affected by postpartum depression, so this foundation is critical for so many. Symptoms of PPD are often feelings of anger, withdrawal from loved ones, and though not always- difficulty in bonding with the baby. Breaking down the stigma of seeking help is incredibly important to ensure more parents don’t continue to struggle alone — something Steven is just as passionate about changing, he insisted:
“It’s been my therapy. I don’t want Alexis’s death to be for nothing.”
Whoa… You can hear more from the impassioned father in a TODAY profile (below).
Such an incredible outcome after a truly heartbreaking situation.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
The post Husband Honors Late Wife Who Died By Suicide Amid Postpartum Depression By Helping More New Moms With Mental Health Clinic appeared first on Perez Hilton.
