Hi! I’m Patricia.
So glad you’re here 🙂 Here’s a little bit about me…
I’m a mom to two amazing kiddos and I never thought I’d be an advocate for perinatal mental health. I wanted to be a nurse, a veterinarian or Dini Petty!
Prior to becoming an advocate, I worked in government communications and as a reporter in various newsrooms across Canada. My dream was to be a television news anchor and I fortunately got to do that in Thunder Bay where I met my husband, John, who was working at the station as a graphic artist.
We moved across the country and back and I worked as a reporter in Vancouver for BCTV News, Global News, in Timmins for MCTV News, and then we settled in Toronto where I accepted a job in communications and started to think about having babies.
That’s when my life and my career and everything took a complete 180 and brought me to the place I’m in today. While I would love to go back and not have to suffer from postpartum psychosis and try to navigate the medical system for help, in vain – twice (yes twice), I’m so glad to be where I am, advocating for improved perinatal mental health care. You can read more about my story in Toronto Life.
I starting sharing my experience as a blogger for HuffPost which quickly evolved into articles about the dismal state of perinatal mental health care in Canada. That’s when I met Jaime Charlebois and together we co-founded the CPMHC.
I’m so proud of the work we accomplished together. One of the projects I’m most proud of is creating and editing Canada’s first perinatal mental health anthology: You Are Not Alone, containing the stories of 49 mothers across the 49th parallel.
Our biggest accomplishment, hands down, has been the awareness we’ve created through Flora’s Walk for Perinatal Mental Health. Since 2022, the CPMHC and our mighty team of advocates have raised over $200,000 during our annual Flora’s Walk for Perinatal Mental Health named after a Canadian mom who died tragically due to undetected postpartum psychosis. We started with 20 walks which increased to 50 walks in 2024 held across Canada during World Maternal Mental Health Week in May. Former Minister of Mental Health & Addictions, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett spoke at the Ottawa walk (current Minister, the Honourable Ya’ra Saks is carrying on the tradition) and we got to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his office for a chat on perinatal mental health care where he promised to deliver on timely access to perinatal mental health services.
In 2023, then Minister Bennett announced funding for Canada’s first ever clinical perinatal mental health guidelines, the CANMAT guidelines for perinatal mood and anxiety related disorders and we’re so thrilled to be working with Women’s College Hospital on this historic project. We’ve been calling for a national strategy since we formed in 2019 and this is a huge step in that direction. The guidelines will be out in the Fall of 2024 so stay tuned!
We’re making waves all in the name of perinatal mental health care and so thankful for your support and advocacy right alongside us!
