"I lost my wife to postpartum depression just NINE days after the birth of our twins - I want more awareness"
- 4 months ago
A dad who lost his wife to postpartum depression just nine days after the birth of their twins is calling for more awareness.
Ariana Sutton, 36, struggled with postpartum depression (PPD) after the birth of her first born, Melody, five.
Her husband Tyler, 37, noticed she became "obsessive" - checking tap water wasn't contaminated and not wanting to be left alone with her baby.
Following treatment, the couple decided to try for another baby fours year later, finding out they were expecting twins in November 2022.
They welcomed their twins, Everly and Rowan on May 22nd 2023 at 34 weeks who were both taken to the neonatal unit to be monitored.
Ariana was placed on medication hours after the birth, to help ease her PPD, but continued to struggle with stress and anxiety when the twins couldn't come home.
Nine days after the birth, Tyler came home and found Ariana had taken her own life while the twins were still in hospital.
Whilst still processing the loss of his wife, Tyler feels grateful that he is able to raise "three beautiful children".
Tyler, a police officer from Easton, Massachusetts, US, said: "I don't like to speculate but since she had been through it before, I think she probably knew how to hide it from me.
"The big effect that PPD has, the irrational sense of guilt and failure that stops people from reaching out for help, means the topic has taken a backseat.
"I wish the medical community could take the initiative during pregnancy and after to make PPD part of the discussion - just regular discussions."
Tyler and Ariana, who have been married for seven years, welcomed their first daughter Melody on October 12, 2018.
But Tyler soon noticed a changed in his wife's mood.
He said: "It changed quickly and gradually and it didn't help that we weren't familiar with PPD.
"She would beg me not to say anything about it to others and in my ignorance I listened to her.
"It really increased her OCD too - she liked things clean and tidy but when she had Melody those habits were increased.
"A lot of things were rooted in a preventative extinct, like making sure the tap water was okay.
"This was going on for weeks and things got so bad that I couldn't recognise her anymore."
Ariana was taken to hospital in November 2018 and was diagnosed with PPD.
She spent two months in hospital before doctors were happy with the medication balance.
Tyler said: "A doctor diagnosed with her PPD and said it was one of the worst cases he'd seen."
She returned home in March 2019 on medication and saw a PPD-trained therapist.
Tyler said: "It was a concern that it might come back again.
"A year after she had come home, she attempted to go off her medication without telling me and I started to see the red flags again.
"She thought she could handle it, she started obsessing over her commute to work for example and that wasn't something I would see her do.
"She agreed to go back on it and knew that was the right thing to do.
Ariana Sutton, 36, struggled with postpartum depression (PPD) after the birth of her first born, Melody, five.
Her husband Tyler, 37, noticed she became "obsessive" - checking tap water wasn't contaminated and not wanting to be left alone with her baby.
Following treatment, the couple decided to try for another baby fours year later, finding out they were expecting twins in November 2022.
They welcomed their twins, Everly and Rowan on May 22nd 2023 at 34 weeks who were both taken to the neonatal unit to be monitored.
Ariana was placed on medication hours after the birth, to help ease her PPD, but continued to struggle with stress and anxiety when the twins couldn't come home.
Nine days after the birth, Tyler came home and found Ariana had taken her own life while the twins were still in hospital.
Whilst still processing the loss of his wife, Tyler feels grateful that he is able to raise "three beautiful children".
Tyler, a police officer from Easton, Massachusetts, US, said: "I don't like to speculate but since she had been through it before, I think she probably knew how to hide it from me.
"The big effect that PPD has, the irrational sense of guilt and failure that stops people from reaching out for help, means the topic has taken a backseat.
"I wish the medical community could take the initiative during pregnancy and after to make PPD part of the discussion - just regular discussions."
Tyler and Ariana, who have been married for seven years, welcomed their first daughter Melody on October 12, 2018.
But Tyler soon noticed a changed in his wife's mood.
He said: "It changed quickly and gradually and it didn't help that we weren't familiar with PPD.
"She would beg me not to say anything about it to others and in my ignorance I listened to her.
"It really increased her OCD too - she liked things clean and tidy but when she had Melody those habits were increased.
"A lot of things were rooted in a preventative extinct, like making sure the tap water was okay.
"This was going on for weeks and things got so bad that I couldn't recognise her anymore."
Ariana was taken to hospital in November 2018 and was diagnosed with PPD.
She spent two months in hospital before doctors were happy with the medication balance.
Tyler said: "A doctor diagnosed with her PPD and said it was one of the worst cases he'd seen."
She returned home in March 2019 on medication and saw a PPD-trained therapist.
Tyler said: "It was a concern that it might come back again.
"A year after she had come home, she attempted to go off her medication without telling me and I started to see the red flags again.
"She thought she could handle it, she started obsessing over her commute to work for example and that wasn't something I would see her do.
"She agreed to go back on it and knew that was the right thing to do.