Black Maternal Mental Health Week was launched by The Motherhood Group to raise awareness, highlight disparities, provide resources, and break cultural barriers in maternal mental health for Black mothers and birthing people. The theme for this year is ‘equity in Black women’s maternal mental health journey’.

Why we’re supporting Black Maternal Mental Health Week

Depression and anxiety among new and expectant mums is higher than you might think - about 1 in 10 parents experience depression after their baby is born.

Recent evidence indicates that women from ethnic minorities may experience more mental health issues, and one of the key factors is the lack of services accessed by Black, Asian and other minority women to support their mental health and wellbeing.

Some of the key factors to consider are:

• Lack of awareness about mental ill health
• Cultural expectations and ongoing stigma within communities
• Limited culturally informed health services and lack of representation, knowledge and education within the healthcare system

Women from Black and minority ethnic groups tend to have poorer mental health than their white counterparts, due to a combination of factors including discrimination, social isolation, deprivation and migration, with low levels of support and treatment. These factors can combine to create a system that may fail to acknowledge and understand the challenges experienced by Black mothers to ensure appropriate support is available for all.

How Best Beginnings is supporting Black Maternal Mental Health Week

We have created eight mental health and wellbeing films, made in collaboration with Nina Malone from Dope Black Mums, psychologist Dr Orinayo Onabanjo, and mums Ifeoma, Nadia and Nicky. All films are available within our Baby Buddy app and YouTube channel and cover themes of mental health and broader health and wellbeing. We’ve developed a film on each of the following topics:

Mental health stigma

• When to ask for help
• Coping strategies
• Family expectations and support

Comparing yourself to others

• Feelings of guilt and shame
• Is social media your friend or foe?

Heath & wellbeing hacks

• Healthy eating
• Self-care
• Fitness

Who is Black Maternal Mental Health Week for?  

Black Maternal Mental Health Week is not just for Black women, it's also for allies, healthcare service providers and employees to participate in.

The focus is on health and care services to facilitate change within their networks – to review and make improvements to any existing practices and policies and promote equity in maternal mental health.

How you can support Black Maternal Mental Health Week             

There are lots of ways you can get involved:

• Hold vital conversations and discussions regarding Black maternal mental health, both online and offline
• Share Black Maternal Mental Health Week content on social media, or create your own - use the hashtag #BMMHW22
• Take part in activities and projects that will prioritise Black maternal mental health
• Share and support Black maternal mental health providers or create resources based on research to support Black mothers
• Acknowledge and address your own biases
• Proactively re-assess your organisation’s practices and highlight where your policies require further development in order to support Black mothers and their mental health. If you’re part of an organisation you can take part in training provided by The Motherhood Group

Importantly, we all need to listen to and support Black mothers beyond Black Maternal Mental Health Week too. Only through learning, growing and continually developing together are we able to facilitate better outcomes for all Black mothers.      

        

Catherine's experience of using Baby Buddy