Local businesses rally around a local mother living with postpartum depression

Local businesses are helping give a complete mind and body makeover to a local woman who is battling postpartum depression.

She won't get just a new outfit or haircut, but a full lifestyle change for 2015.

Tammy Weisweaver of B Present Studio in Granger came up with the idea.

Abigail Heare decided to nominate herself and says she never realized it would be the first step in battling her depression.

“I just went for it and they chose me,” says Heare.

Heare was chosen for the B-You-Tiful Experience.

Her story starts when he first child was born.

“I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety,” says Heare.

Heare was no longer a happy, new mom. So, she relied heavily on medication.

“I needed something to help me get through every day,” says Heare.

Heare says those medications didn't make her necessarily happy, either.

“I was just kind of numb,” says Heare.

She was numb for four and half years. During that time, she was taking prescription drugs that were supposed to give her some sense of normalcy.

“There was a lot that I missed out on, with my kids growing up and milestones that I missed,” says Heare.

Now she's learning how to live without those medications because she has two kids she needs to be healthy for.

When she saw Weisweaver's post on Facebook looking for women to enter this contest she thought this would be a good way to push forward to be a happier and healthier woman.

Weisweaver says she had hundreds of videos to choose from but Heare's entry stuck out.

“It gives me goose bumps!” says Weisweaver. “She rocks and she matters just how she is.”

Besides getting free training at B Present Studio, Heare is also getting:

• Free nutrition planning with Nourish Yourself
• Free skin careen with South Bend Dermatology
• Free clothes from Flourish Boutique
• Free dental care from Erskine Family Dental
• Free hair-styling from Mosaic Salon
• Free make-up from Cameilla Cosmetics