Two Borderland friends create a community for other moms to connect

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)-- The birth of a child can lead to many firsts, but for mothers, it can also lead to postpartum depression and other mental health challenges that are rarely discussed.

According to the CDC, 1 in 8 mothers report symptoms of depression after giving birth.

Two Borderland friends, Brianna Barnes and Sonia Castellanos, have teamed up to build a community of moms and babies to help fight the baby blues together. They created Sun City Strollers after experiencing their own struggles.

Castellanos said despite having plenty of support around her after giving birth, she still felt very alone.

“I had a lot of loneliness in the beginning. I did experience, like, postpartum depression as well. It's, you know, it's it's a hard role as, like, you know, when you become a mom, it's, it's the biggest blessing ever, you know, and having your little one, but it's, it's just a role that, you know, becomes of a lot of responsibility all at once,” Castellanos said.

She said the first few months giving birth were riddled with many thoughts. She said she worried about her baby constantly.

“Anxiety and just, like, scared of, like, something would happen to her, you know, and not knowing what to do or, you know, you don't really have a roadmap. There's no roadmap or no book that tells you how to become a mom, what to do,” she said.

Meanwhile, Barnes said she felt like she lost her identity after giving birth.

"There once was as a woman before becoming, becoming a mother. I struggle with that, significantly. But just learning who I was and just learning who I am, becoming a mother doesn't change who I was.”

The friends, with daughters only one month apart, would go on walks together.

“We thought, 'Hey, why not, include other moms in our walks together', and slowly but surely, you know, ten moms started, 20 moms started and slowly but surely we had this whole community come out and come support us. So it's just amazing how far it's grown and how many moms can relate to our story,” Barnes said.

They started Sun City Strollers. It’s a group of moms that go on regular walks at parks across town. They said it’s important for moms to have a place to come together and connect. It's a place where moms can start conversations with moms who are going through the same situation.

“They're happy that there's something like this in El Paso. They're so glad that we brought something like this to the community and brought awareness for mothers,” Barnes explained.

Castellanos said she has heard plenty of positive experiences from mothers who regularly participate. She also said she has heard from many grandmothers who have expressed the need for this type of group when they first became new moms.

“We've had, you know, older women as well tell us, like grandmothers, like, you know, this is really good, like what you're doing.”

Castellanos and Barnes say they just want women to feel supported while meeting other moms.

“We just want to know that we're here for them. We just want to make sure that, you know, that they could come to our group, that they're one of us, that we're just here. That they could come join us,” Barnes said.

“We're here for a reason, you know, that you can talk to us and that we can all connect,” Castellanos said.

They said their ultimate goal is for this community to continue to grow and for moms to know they are not alone on this journey called motherhood.

If you want to learn more about Sun City Strollers, click here.