Another Voice: Black maternal mental health must be addressed

This article originally appeared in the Buffalo News.

Last month, a member of our Western New York community succumbed to issues of postpartum depression when she and her two children went over the guardrails and into the depths of the American side of Niagara Falls.

According to the family of 33-year old Chianti Means, she had been struggling with postpartum depression when she took herself, her 9-year-old son and 5-month-old daughter over the rapids.

The family of Means and her children are dealing with insurmountable grief in the wake of this tragedy and it is, unfortunately, not uncommon to hear of new mothers dealing with postpartum mental health.

At the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, we view maternal health holistically and advocate for continued support in a woman’s “fourth trimester.” While it is certainly a piece of the greater maternal health conversation, reproductive justice needs to include postpartum health, a time after birth when a woman’s hormones are at battle with the demands of a newborn and societal expectations. Oftentimes women — especially Black women — are expected to be strong and suppress their real pain and concerns.

In September, BCHE hosted a Maternal Black Health Conference at Canisius College, and figures presented show that what led to Means’ unfortunate ending isn’t uncommon. Data shared by Dr. Lisa Nicholas, a health sciences clinical associate professor at UCLA, show that the United States stands as one of the most developed countries with one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world.

She shared that Black women are consistently at highest risk of death as a result. Furthermore, maternal mortality is most predominant in the postpartum stage, defined as days 1 through 365 after birth.
We will never know the full extent of what was happening in Means’ mind, but we know that we have a moral responsibility as a country to use this as a moment to reflect on what we are doing for the countless mothers dealing with varying degrees of postpartum depression, a real and diagnosable condition.
 
 
Holistically speaking, birthing women deserve pre-, during, and postpartum care to ensure that both her and her baby are able to grow together in the way that they deserve to.
 
Samantha Nephew is a communications specialist for the Buffalo Center for Health Equity.