New wellness centre opens in honour of Regina mom who died by suicide

(Angela Stewart / CTV News)

Mothers and families struggling with postpartum depression or navigating the struggles of parenthood have access to some help through a new wellness centre which opened its doors in Regina Saturday.

The centre is called ‘I Love You More Wellness Centre’ and through it, there are a variety of resources available to moms and families who may be struggling.

One of the resources offered is counselling through ‘Prairie Hearts Counselling.’ at 2752 Montague St. in Regina. According to the owner, Lindsay Gareau, there will be drop-in programs every day during the week.

“We have different service partners who will be hosting those programs. Twice a week we are going to have a morning program called ‘Momma Needs Coffee,’ for those of us who have kids that wake up at 5 o’clock,” she said.

The centre was created in honour of Regina mom Renee Ferguson, who died by suicide in October of 2023.

Gareau said she hopes the space will help bridge the gap and help those who might be struggling.

“Society and Hollywood make you think that motherhood is great and lovely, and awesome all the time, when that’s not what your experience is. You really start getting a lot of intrusive thoughts of ‘Am I not good enough, what am I doing wrong, what’s wrong with me,” she said.

“Our address book changes so much for support systems when you have a baby that having a place where you can go with other people who are in the same phase of life can really help with those connections.”

According to the centre, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are the number one birth complication, which affects one in five mothers and one in 10 partners.