CINCINNATI (WKRC) — TriHealth has launched a new Women’s Mental Wellness Center aimed at expanding mental health care for women in the community. The center offers a range of services, including mental health support, medication management, therapy, and complementary services like acupuncture to promote overall wellness.

Dr. Tammy Wilkins, a Women’s Behavioral Health Specialist at TriHealth, explained the center’s purpose. “We have been created to be a mental health resource for all of the women that see one of our OB/GYNs,” she said. “What the OB/GYNs were sharing is so often when they see a patient the issue is more of a crisis or it is more acute and they had trouble getting them into people in the community.”

The center also provides support for postpartum depression, a condition that affects many new mothers. Katie Harper, a mother who struggled with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter Charlotte, shared her experience. “It hit me like a ton of bricks, I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t eat, I cried all the time,” she said.

Dr. Wilkins emphasized the importance of distinguishing between postpartum blues and postpartum depression. “Postpartum depression is a different entity that once you get out beyond 2-3 weeks then we’re talking about postpartum depression,” she said. “The most common time that it hits is about 14 weeks out but it can develop anytime in that first year after you have a baby.”

Currently, the center accepts referrals only through women’s health providers.