A dad who lost his wife to postpartum depression just nine days after the birth of their twins is calling for more awareness.<br /><br />Ariana Sutton, 36, struggled with postpartum depression (PPD) after the birth of her first born, Melody, five.<br /><br />Her husband Tyler, 37, noticed she became "obsessive" - checking tap water wasn't contaminated and not wanting to be left alone with her baby.<br /><br />Following treatment, the couple decided to try for another baby fours year later, finding out they were expecting twins in November 2022.<br /><br />They welcomed their twins, Everly and Rowan on May 22nd 2023 at 34 weeks who were both taken to the neonatal unit to be monitored.<br /><br />Ariana was placed on medication hours after the birth, to help ease her PPD, but continued to struggle with stress and anxiety when the twins couldn't come home.<br /><br />Nine days after the birth, Tyler came home and found Ariana had taken her own life while the twins were still in hospital.<br /><br />Whilst still processing the loss of his wife, Tyler feels grateful that he is able to raise "three beautiful children".<br /><br />Tyler, a police officer from Easton, Massachusetts, US, said: "I don't like to speculate but since she had been through it before, I think she probably knew how to hide it from me. <br /><br />"The big effect that PPD has, the irrational sense of guilt and failure that stops people from reaching out for help, means the topic has taken a backseat.<br /><br />"I wish the medical community could take the initiative during pregnancy and after to make PPD part of the discussion - just regular discussions."<br /><br />Tyler and Ariana, who have been married for seven years, welcomed their first daughter Melody on October 12, 2018.<br /><br />But Tyler soon noticed a changed in his wife's mood.<br /><br />He said: "It changed quickly and gradually and it didn't help that we weren't familiar with PPD. <br /><br />"She would beg me not to say anything about it to others and in my ignorance I listened to her.<br /><br />"It really increased her OCD too - she liked things clean and tidy but when she had Melody those habits were increased.<br /><br />"A lot of things were rooted in a preventative extinct, like making sure the tap water was okay.<br /><br />"This was going on for weeks and things got so bad that I couldn't recognise her anymore."<br /><br />Ariana was taken to hospital in November 2018 and was diagnosed with PPD.<br /><br />She spent two months in hospital before doctors were happy with the medication balance.<br /> <br />Tyler said: "A doctor diagnosed with her PPD and said it was one of the worst cases he'd seen."<br /><br />She returned home in March 2019 on medication and saw a PPD-trained therapist.<br /><br />Tyler said: "It was a concern that it might come back again. <br /><br />"A year after she had come home, she attempted to go off her medication without telling me and I started to see the red flags again. <br /><br />"She thought she could handle it, she started obsessing over her commute to work for example and that wasn't something I would see her do.<br /><br />"She agreed to go back on it and knew that was the right thing to do.
