Maternal Mental Health And Women of Color

MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH

AND WOMEN OF COLOR

The maternal mortality rate for Black mothers is 3-4 times the rate for white mothers.

Black mothers are MORE likely to experience postpartum depression and related maternal mental health conditions but LESS likely to get help.

The coronavirus disproportionately impacts Black women ,

who are the most likely to work front-line jobs, be laid off, and live in areas of outbreak.

BLACK MOTHERHOOD

IN THE UNITED STATES

Dr. Sayida Peprah is a psychologist, doula, public speaker, consultant, and mother who is changing the dialogue around supporting birth for mothers of color and helping others understand the importance along the way. She delivered an insightful presentation on Black Motherhood in the United States as part of the new Town Hall series sponsored by MomCongress.

WATCH THE PRESENTATION

BLACK MATERNAL & MENTAL HEALTH VIRTUAL SUMMIT

July 20-23

The Shades of Blue Project is partnering with UTHealth and other community organizations for a virtual event that will provide attendees in the health profession (clinical providers, educators, social workers, counselors, and researchers) with information on providing compassionate maternal, perinatal, and postpartum care to women from marginalized communities.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

SHADES OF YOU, SHADES OF ME

Multicultural Maternal Mental Health Conference

October 22-24

Milwaukee, WI

This interactive community-centered event will engage participants in discussions focused on the intersection of maternal mental health, diversity, and culture.

Attendance is limited to 100 in person and approximately 300 virtually.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER HERE

Council on Patient Safety in Women's Healthcare offers a patient safety bundle on Reduction of Peripartum Racial / Ethnic Disparities, along with several pre-recorded webinars and articles addressing race and disparities:

RESOURCES SUPPORTING BLACK WOMEN

This list is not meant to be all-inclusive but rather to serve

as a starting point for finding resources and information.

Akoma Counseling Concepts : A DC-based female minority owned mental health counseling and consultation practice that specializes in women’s mental health and perinatal mental health counseling.

Ancient Song Doula Services : Tackling issues affecting communities of color through community, advocacy, reproductive/birth justice, and education.

Birth Center Equity Fund : Dedicated to making birth center care an option for every person who wants it, by growing and sustaining birth centers led by Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. 100% of funds raised go to BIPOC birth centers.

Black Mamas Matter Alliance: An advocacy organization focused on improving the health and well-being of black women through research, policy, and cultural shifts.

Black Mental Wellness: A corporation of clinical psychologists who recognize the need for culturally competent professionals to collaborate and address mental health issues that are prevalent and unique to the experiences of Black people.

Black Women’s Health Imperative: The first nonprofit organization created by Black women to help protect and advance the health and wellness of Black women and girls.

The Bloom Collective: A Baltimore-based center for birth education, lactation, and perinatal support.

Common Sense Childbirth: Founded by midwife Jennie Joseph, this organization's mission is to inspire change in maternal child health care systems worldwide and to re-empower the birthing mother, father, family and community by supporting the providers, practitioners and agencies that are charged with their care.

Diversity Uplifts : A consulting and training nonprofit organization determined to improve the wellbeing of individuals and communities by supporting diverse populations and increasing cultural competence and humility among providers who serve them.

The Loveland Foundation: This fund provides grants to Black women and girls to obtain high-quality mental health care.

Mamatoto Village: A not-for-profit organization committed to furthering the careers of women of color and providing perinatal support services to all, including home visiting, doula, childbirth education, and lactation support.

MomCongress Black Learn, Listen, and Lift Toolkit : This NEW toolkit includes listings of books, films, podcasts, organizations, and more designed to help non-Black individuals understand how deeply racism runs in our country and to ensure Black women and Black America are heard, treated equally, and are respected for all that has been endured.

National Association to Advance Black Births: Working to promote midwives, doulas, and training programs to improve the care of Black women, persons, and infants.

National Black Midwives Alliance : A member-supported organization focused on raising awareness about Black midwives and eliminating disparities in U.S. perinatal health.

National Birth Equity Collaborative: Focused on creating solutions that optimize Black maternal and infant health through training, policy advocacy, research, and community-centered collaboration.

Perinatal Mental Health Alliance for People of Color: A program within Postpartum Support International geared towards building capacity in the perinatal mental health field to better support families and providers of color around perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

Shades of Blue Project: A Texas-based nonprofit whose mission is to break cultural barriers in maternal mental health.

Shades of You, Shades of Me: The only conference in the United States focused exclusively on multicultural maternal mental health.

SisterSong: A reproductive justice organization focused on improving the lives of women of color through community organizing and advocacy to catalyze systemic change.

Therapy for Black Girls: Dedicated to decreasing stigma and increasing access to culturally competent mental health care for Black people.

Learn more HERE .

Send additional resources to info@mmhla.org.

TO DESCRIBE MY MOTHER WOULD BE TO WRITE ABOUT

A HURRICANE IN ITS PERFECT POWER.

Maya Angelou

Working with Policy Makers to Address Maternal Mental Health Conditions

Our vision is that all childbearing women in the United States will be educated about and screened for maternal mental health conditions and have access to resources for recovery.