ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — In May, Victoria Harris disappeared while pregnant and suffering from severe mental illness.
She was later found, and her baby was born on Sept. 27.
Harris and her baby spent about five days together at Grady Memorial Hospital after the delivery. It was there that Harris wrote a word that’s now the middle name of her young daughter: Hope.
Harris is currently in a psychiatric hospital getting the care she needs.
Brittaney Bethea is the baby’s aunt and one of her caregivers while Harris is in the hospital.
“Hope is fitting because it was really the only thing that our family had to hold onto. It’s what got us here,“ Bethea said.
Harris was arrested on a prior warrant when she was found and taken to Cobb County Jail. Bethea said things started to improve for Harris while she was in jail. Her charges were dropped, she was transferred to Wellstar for involuntary care and later moved to Grady to deliver her baby.
In short, the safety net of Georgia’s mental healthcare system caught Harris and her baby. But this hopeful outcome is not at all guaranteed.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, 141 people died while pregnant in Georgia between 2020 and 2022. 20 of those with tied to mental health conditions.
The Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities has pumped in $47 million to expand crisis services across Georgia. The state has nearly 1,000 beds, 300 of which are dedicated to those in mental crisis.
“There are long lists to get into those hospitals for psychiatric care. And so, I think some expansion of services and facilities is certainly needed,” Bethea said.
Others have stepped in to help Harris and Bethea. The Atlanta non-profit Motherhood Beyond Bars gave Bethea diapers and bottles to help raise baby Hope. Right now, they’re helping 380 babies and more than 1,000 family members with incarcerated mothers across Georgia.
“It takes a lot of people to help break these cycles of incarceration and trauma in families,” Executive Director Amy Ard said. “We’re going to be doing it for a long time with the people in our community who care about it too.”
Bethea would like to see more training for police officers to help those in crisis avoid jail. But until Harris can be there for Hope, she said she’s not going anywhere.
“Why do [I] keep showing up? Because that’s my sister. That’s my sister,” she said. “We want her to get to her best self so she can show up best for her daughter.”
If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.
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