Statistics show that 20% of women develop a perinatal(pregnancy to 1 year after birth) mental health illnesses( depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychosis).
For black women the risk is almost twice as much.
Black women today and probably since the beginning of time have been carrying a load bigger than ourselves. We want to be everything to everybody. Your a mom, a wife/ girlfriend, a sis to another sis, a daughter.... The list goes on and on. But when it comes yourself, ARE YOU TAKING CARE OF YOU? Do you even know what that would look like? I ask because when it comes to black women and their mental health there is a stigma.
Stigma.
This stigma says that we are the keepers of ourselves, and we don't need help. Or that when it comes to reaching out for help, telling someone besides Jesus isn't apart of the plan. Asking for help just seems like it's not an option or the very last option. We want to suppress the anxiety of staying awake all night make sure the baby is breathing. We want to suppress the depression of feeling like a bad parent when the baby is smiling at you. We want to ignore the constant need to check the car seat straps 8 times before leaving the house. We want to suppress the urge to harm yourself or your child. In hopes that it will go away and thoughts that you are alone. But are you really alone? Do you really have to do it alone?
There is a tribe for you!
The statistics show that you are not alone. There are people out there just like you. Struggling with the same battles as you. So the best thing for you and others struggling with you is to speak up and speak out! For me it wasn't until I had a tribe of people I knew God placed in my life did I grow comfortable in speaking my truth. So, find people to love you, genuinely care about you and get you to the resources you need. I love the women in my life that I can turn to when things get hard, and genuinely care about me. Hire a postpartum doula to be apart of your tribe.
Start building your tribe. Hire a postpartum doula.
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