'Smiling doesn't mean that everything's OK': New perinatal support centre to honour Regina mother's memory
CBC
Warning: this story contains discussion of depression and suicide.
A group of counsellors in Regina are using the tragic death of a local mother as motivation to help others suffering perinatal mental health issues.
Renée Ferguson left behind her husband and two children, now aged one and three, when she died by suicide in October 2023. She was 29 years old. The Regina mother struggled with postpartum anxiety and depression.
Lindsay Gareau, a counsellor at Prairie Heart Counselling Inc. (PHCI) in Regina, said Ferguson's death was particularly troubling because she had been trying hard to get better.
"She was involved in counselling. She was attending a weekly mom support group. She was attending psychiatry. She was attending all of the things at home," Gareau said.
"She was doing all the right things."
WATCH | Renée Ferguson's death inspires action:
After Ferguson's death, PHCI consulted with those left to grieve, trying to make sense of the situation.
"It left family members and professionals wondering 'What was the gap? What was missing?'" reads a recent post on PHCI's Facebook page.
"We found the answer, a village."
Now PHCI is getting ready to open I Love You More Wellness Centre, a space dedicated specifically to parents struggling with perinatal mental health issues, in Ferguson's memory.
The centre is set to open on June 1 in Regina's River Heights mall. It is expected to include an early morning coffee club, drop-in hours with counsellors on hand and other programming.
Gareau, who had counselled Ferguson and spoke with the family's permission for this story, said she was in disbelief when she learned of Ferguson's death.
"It rocked everybody's world," said Gareau. "It broke everybody's heart. I really don't think that any of us thought that it was that bad, and that's the thing with mental health. You don't know."