Black Maternal Health & My Struggle with Postpartum Depression

 

I can’t talk about Black Maternal Health week (April 11th-17th) without talking about postpartum depression because that depression was a big shadow over my life in the early months of motherhood.

So here’s what happened to me: My husband showed me this video for the first time a few months ago and I got so emotional watching it. I didn’t know he was recording it at the time but I’m glad he did because it reminded me of how far I’ve come and how much I’ve healed.

The first challenge I faced after giving birth was postpartum preeclampsia and everything that led up to that, the next challenge was breastfeeding, and then the postpartum depression crept in. I was in pain and didn’t feel equipped for motherhood at first. It was hard not to cry, but thank God for my husband, who was right there in the hospital room, encouraging me every step of the way. I left the hospital a few days later feeling sad and scared about motherhood but I was determined to make it through.

If you have ever been through or are experiencing postpartum depression, know that you are not alone. You have a support system of people who believe in you as a mother and want you to be well for you and your baby. I prayed a lot and cried a lot by myself and in the presence of loved ones. I went back to work when my son was 10 weeks old and cried every day from November 5, 2018, when he was born, until May 2019, when I got so tired of my depression that I sought the help of a therapist. Therapy changed my life for the better, and I’m so grateful for that journey. 

Black maternal health and mental health matters. Let's talk about these things and support women by sharing our stories.

Black Maternal Health & Post Partum Preeclampsia

My first pregnancy was in 2018 and it was healthy and beautiful. After birth was when things got hard and scary. Hours after giving birth, I experienced the worst headache of my life.

My mom has a medical background and asked the nurse on duty to check my blood pressure because she knew that was a sign of high blood pressure. The nurse ignored us. So my mom and husband asked her to give me some Tylenol and the nurse still ignored us. I was lying in so much pain, I couldn’t even hold my baby. Finally, the nurses changed shifts. When the new nurse introduced herself, she was warm and kind. My mother and husband explained what was happening to me. She immediately checked my blood pressure, got me Tylenol, and told us that I was suffering from postpartum preeclampsia. The nurse gave me potassium intravenously for the remaining 2.5 days I was in the hospital to treat it. 

Thank God I’m here to share my story, and I’m grateful that my mom and husband advocated for me and my maternal health.

Black Maternal Health Week means a lot to me because we deserve to have healthy pregnancies, labor & delivery, and postpartum experiences. Having the right advocates in the hospital as a mother is a matter of life and death. We all deserve to have people who advocate for our right to live.