RUTH RHODEN CRAVEN

RUTH RHODEN CRAVEN

Ruth Rhoden Craven was a beloved daughter, wife, mother and friend who suffered from postpartum depression following the birth of her first child. This illness took a stable, positive and happy young woman and turned her into a weakened, helpless soul. On Dec. 5, 1999 – just two and a half months after the birth of her son – Ruth could no longer take the pain and anguish of postpartum depression and ended her life.

To help prevent this tragedy from happening to another family, Ruth’s mother, Helena Bradford, and friends Elaine Earl and Mary Anna Mullinax formed The Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation, Inc. in March 2000. The overall goal is to provide support, education and healing to other women and their families so they don’t have to suffer through the kind of tragedy that Ruth’s family did.

Helena Bradford believes if Ruth had received proper treatment, she would be alive today. “Before Ruth was stricken with postpartum depression, I had never even heard of it. I want women and their families to be more prepared and informed than we were, so they won’t have to go through what we did,” she says.