Advocacy Corner: Parenting Is Hard. Our Systems Shouldn’t Make It Harder – Mental Health Edition

Welcome to Advocacy Corner, a monthly series of nonpartisan advocacy posts by the Natrona Collective Health Trust, aimed at advancing our mission of improving the health of Natrona County residents. Each month, we explore key issues that impact community well-being, providing insights and information to empower residents. If you have a topic suggestion or question, please reach out to Rachel Bouzis, Director of Policy & Learning.

A baby’s brain forms over one million new synapses every second. These connections between neurons shape everything from basic motor skills to complex emotional responses like empathy and problem solving. It’s during these critical early years—when 90% of brain development occurs—that we have the best opportunity to support children in becoming healthy, capable adults.

To put it more plainly: parenting is hard. I had always assumed this, but in my first post-parental-leave edition of Advocacy Corner, I’m confirming that this is absolutely true (why the Trust values lived experience so highly). Living it firsthand has made it even clearer how urgent it is to create systems and policies that support families from the very beginning.

Given how important a child’s early years are, you would think that society would put more emphasis on making parenting easier. Of course, there are dozens of policies that could make this a reality. Some, like expanding paid parental leave, increasing access to affordable childcare and improving healthcare coverage, are painfully obvious.

Others have earned more attention recently, though. The seriousness of postpartum depression was tragically underscored by the events in  Byron earlier this year. While that level of severity is rare, many parents know what it’s like to be sleep-deprived at 3 a.m., overwhelmed by a crying baby and feeling desperation, frustration and even rage. It’s scary—and it’s more common than we talk about. That’s why honest conversations and real support for new parents matter so much.

“Moms struggle silently. They think they’re bad moms if they don’t feel how they think they’re supposed to feel,” Tonya Nolen, Casper-Natrona County Health Department maternal and child health manager, said. Fortunately, Natrona County moms have some outstanding resources available to them, if they know where to look. The Health Department’s Wyoming Hand in Hand program that Nolen oversees is a voluntary home visiting program available to all Natrona County mothers and families beginning in pregnancy and lasting throughout the first two years of a child’s life. Based on my own positive experience with the program, the visits are highly personalized and focused on strengthening families. Nolen also recommends the Parents as Teachers program, which serves families with certain risk factors—like income insecurity or lack of support systems—up to five years of age.

For a more focused treatment of maternal mental health, Natrona County has an unusually high number of clinicians with postpartum mental health certifications. Thanks to scholarships by Healthy Moms Healthy Births, there are more than five local providers specially trained to serve maternal clients. According to Nolen, there weren’t any local providers with this certification just a few years ago. Contact Maternal & Child Health for an updated list.

Every new parent deserves to feel supported—not just in crisis, but every day. Reach out to the new parents in your life. Ask how they’re really doing. Make sure they know about the free programs available through the Natrona County Health Department—sometimes a single conversation or referral can change everything. And don’t stop there. Use your voice at work and in your community to push for the systemic changes families need: paid leave, mental health care, and affordable childcare.

Healthy infancy doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it requires healthy caregivers, especially moms. The emotional, physical and psychological well-being of a parent shapes the earliest environment a child will ever know. That’s why the Trust prioritizes work that prevents and mitigates Adverse Childhood Experiences, including maternal mental health challenges. Supporting parents—through policy, practice and community care—isn’t just a kindness. It’s a public health imperative, and one of the most powerful ways we can build a stronger, healthier future for Natrona County.

*In our next Advocacy Corner, we’ll take a closer look at the physical health needs of mothers in Natrona County.