WINNIPEG, Manitoba, July 29 (UPI) -- Police say they are looking into postpartum depression in the drowning death of a Canadian mom whose two kids died after being found in a bathtub.
Winnipeg police said Sunday the body they pulled from the Red River a day earlier was that of Lisa Gibson, 32, who hadn't been seen since her children died after being found near death in the family's Winnipeg home last Wednesday.
Police said they were examining postpartum mental health issues as part of their investigation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
CTV Winnipeg reported Nicole Gamble, who says she runs Winnipeg's only support group for mothers with postpartum depression, said it's an illness that doesn't receive enough attention and sufferers don't get the care they need.
"So many people slip through those cracks," she said. "Not everybody gets that home visit, and if they do it's usually in the first week and as we know people don't always start that early."
Gamble said she hopes the media attention on the past week's case helps make mothers more comfortable asking for help and brings more resources to bear on the problem.
The CBC said Chris Summerville, chief executive of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, says an inquest into the deaths of Gibson and her children will help Canadians better understand mental health issues.
"You can't prevent every suicide," he said. "But when a mother is experiencing postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis there needs to be a thorough suicide risk assessment."
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is investigating to determine what contact Gibson had with health professionals before her death, the CBC said.
The network said the province's website states the chief medical examiner could call an inquest if it would benefit the general public to know the circumstances surrounding someone's death.
