Mums taking charge

by Sinai Fleary

BLACK BRITISH mothers are scared to seek help for postnatal depression because they fear their babies will be taken away, our investigation has revealed.

Postnatal depression impacts one in every 10 women who give birth in the UK, and can also affect fathers.

According to research, black mothers are 13 per cent more likely to face postnatal depression or anxiety than white mothers.

Experts believe the increased risk is due to other societal inequalities black women face like deprivation, social isolation, exposure to trauma, lower income, food insecurity, housing and immigration problems.

Despite black mothers being more vulnerable, they are the least likely to ask for help.

There is an additional factor, distrust of the medical system which is acting as a barrier preventing many from seeking the help they need.

Sandra Igwe is the founder and CEO of the Motherhood Group, a leading support group for black mothers in the UK.

She told The Voice: “A lot of black mothers don’t see mental health services as they see it as part of a wider system, the healthcare system as a whole.

“They are hearing about all of these horrible disparities that affect us more, such as we are more likely to have neonatal deaths, stillborn babies, complications, die during pregnancy, all of these horrifying statistics, so we don’t trust the system as a whole.”

These concerning statistics are stopping black women from going to healthcare professionals. Ms Igwe said there is also a fear among black women that if you are suffering from postnatal depression “our babies will be taken away.”

In 2016, the businesswoman fell pregnant with her first child. She recalls being “harmed by the system” during her pregnancy and says she experienced discriminatory treatment from a midwife because of the colour of her skin. She added: “When I went on to have symptoms of depression, I did not want to go back to the system that

I thought all worked cohesively together to not have my best interests at heart.”

According to the NHS, some of the most common symptoms of postnatal depression include a persistent feeling of low mood or sadness, lack of energy, feeling tired all the time, isolating yourself from family and friends and lack of enjoyment or interest in things.

Ms Igwe said: “I didn’t know I had depression because I was still cleaning, cooking and was very efficient, but as black women when we display signs of depression it’s not necessarily the standard Eurocentric way of looking at depression.

Frustration

“Sometimes it’s feeling like you’re not good enough, feeling like you are not doing enough, sometimes it’s taking on too much and feeling quite burnt out. It shows itself in avoiding people and isolating yourself further.”

Ms Igwe founded the Motherhood Group out of frustration that there were not enough support services out there that specifically catered to black women and that were “culturally competent or culturally sensitive”.

She never sought professional help, but says attending church regularly and setting up her organisation as a safe space for black mothers has been therapy to help her through depression. “I did everything but go back to the system with my first daughter because of that fear of racism, further trauma, and babies being taken away, using what you said against you,” she added.

Ms Igwe also cites a “lack of transparency” within the health system as a reason many black women are now turning to their aunties, family, friends and faith institutions for support.

“We already have many labels being black, being a woman, you don’t want to have another label attached to you relating to mental ill health.”

Leeanne Adu, 38, from Lewisham, south-east London, found out she was expecting her first child in April 2017.

At first, she was convinced she would have an easy pregnancy because she was exercising regularly and training

What is postnatal depression?

HAVING a baby is a lifechanging experience and most women can feel tearful and anxious during the first week after giving birth.

This is known as the “baby blues” and is con- sidered normal and quite common. that your mental health is as important as your physical health and if you are worried about yourself or someone else but it’s not an emergency contact your GP or call 111. for a marathon at the time. But things took a turn for the worst and Ms Adu began to feel very unwell.

However, if your symptoms last longer or start later, it could be a sign that you could have postnatal depression.

She said: “I got every single symptom straight away, I couldn’t eat anything but potatoes or ice lollies for three months.

Panic

“I couldn’t walk to the end of the road without throwing up.”

Ms Adu was constantly exhausted and said she felt pressured to disclose her pregnancy to her former employers very early on.

Her condition got worse and she was forced to take time off work and this began to impact her mental wellbeing.

Ms Adu disclosed she has previously had depressive episodes throughout her life and informed health professionals at the beginning of her pregnancy, who allocated her a mental health midwife.

She thought ‘I’m not going to need that again, I’m going to be fine’ but said as she got further along in her pregnancy the problems continued.

The mother-of-one was diagnosed with Pelvic Girdle Pain, which meant she could no longer walk or jog and this “sent her to rock bottom” and admits she “didn’t enjoy” her pregnancy.

“My mental health just dropped and I felt incredibly anxious,” she explained.

Ms Adu remembers experiencing frightening periods when she started imagining the worst would happen.

This was debilitating and forced her to stay indoors because she feared she would be involved in an accident.

At six months pregnant, she was signed off work with high blood pressure and was having panic attacks.

Ms Adu said having the same mental health midwife for the entirety of her pregnancy helped her.