Postpartum depression remains a significant maternal health concern in Jordan. A recent study by EMPHNET found that 13.4% of 471 women attending primary healthcare centers in Mafraq and Irbid screened positive for probable postpartum depression. The study also identified several factors associated with higher odds of postpartum depression, including stressful life events and concerns about infant health.

Behind these findings are women whose experiences highlight the importance of awareness, prevention, early screening, and access to timely, accessible, and quality mental health and psychological support services. When postpartum depression goes unrecognized, the strain extends beyond the mother to her child, her family, and the health system that later has to respond to a crisis.

Siham is one of them.

Fourteen years ago, Siham gave birth to a daughter who was born blind. During an already challenging period in her life, Siham struggled to accept what had happened and experienced severe psychological distress. At the time, she did not understand what she was going through and recalls having little awareness of postpartum depression or where to seek help. She eventually travelled to Syria, where she was hospitalized and treated for depression.

“I didn’t know what I was going through until it happened to me. No one explained it to me, and there wasn’t enough awareness about postpartum depression,” Siham shared.

Years later, when she learned that training on postpartum depression was being offered through her local primary healthcare center, the subject immediately resonated with her.

“I was happy when I heard about postpartum depression at my primary healthcare center because I knew from my own experience that people in my community did not really understand what it was,” she said.

For Siham, that awareness was something she wished she and those around her had had 14 years earlier.

Turning Personal Experience into Community Support

Siham became involved in the project Integrating Family Planning and Mental Health Services into Postnatal Care for Migrant, Refugee, and Underserved Jordanian Women, implemented by the Jordan Ministry of Health and EMPHNET, with funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

She first learned about the project when a healthcare worker at her local primary healthcare center told her about an EMPHNET-supported training addressing postpartum depression.

As part of the project, four training cohorts were delivered between August 3 and 26, 2026, bringing together approximately 30 primary healthcare providers, community health workers, and supervisory and liaison staff from Mafraq and North Aghwar.

Siham participated as a community health worker, bringing to the training both her connection to the local community and her own experience with depression following childbirth.

The training covered maternal mental health, postpartum depression, psychosocial support, counselling and communication, referral pathways, family planning, and community engagement. For Siham, it deepened her understanding of postpartum depression and gave her knowledge she could use to support other women.

It also strengthened her belief that awareness needs to extend beyond mothers themselves.

“When people around a mother understand what she is going through, they can support her and encourage her to seek help,” she explained.

Turning Awareness into Action

Siham is already putting that knowledge into practice.

She recalled meeting a woman in her community who was struggling emotionally after having a child with autism. Drawing on what she had learned and her own experience, Siham spoke with her about postpartum depression and encouraged her to visit a primary healthcare center for professional support.

For Siham, this is why community awareness matters: people who understand the signs of psychological distress can encourage women to seek appropriate help rather than face those experiences alone.

Her experience has also made her conscious of the stigma that continues to surround depression. She says some women may hesitate to seek support from primary healthcare centers because they worry about how others will perceive them or fear being labelled as having a mental illness.

“People still don’t always understand what depression means, and that can make women afraid to ask for help. We need more awareness so women and their families know that they can seek support,” she said.

Her perspective reflects the role community actors can play alongside health professionals: raising awareness, recognizing when someone may need additional support, and encouraging people to connect with appropriate healthcare services.

As a salon owner and community activist, Siham regularly interacts with women in her community. Her message to mothers is to pay attention to their well-being and seek support when they need it.

“Take care of yourself. Check in with yourself and pay attention to how you are feeling. What you are going through can pass, but you should seek support when you need it,” she said.

Her message, however, extends beyond individual self-care. Families and communities also need the awareness to recognize when a mother may be struggling and to support her in seeking appropriate care.

Building Awareness Beyond the Individual

Through the broader project, EMPHNET and the Ministry of Health are working to strengthen frontline healthcare providers’ knowledge and skills and integrate mental health and family planning within postnatal care.

For Siham, community awareness is an important part of that effort. Fourteen years after facing depression without understanding what was happening to her, she now wants other mothers to have something she felt was missing from her own experience: awareness.

By sharing what she has learned, Siham hopes other women can recognize when they may need support and know that seeking help is an option.

** Siham provided consent for the use of her story in this feature.