Black Mothers Get Less Treatment For Their Postpartum Depression

[TexasTowelie]

Portia Smith's most vivid memories of her daughter's first year are of tears. Not the baby's. Her own.

"I would just hold her and cry all day," Smith recalls.

At 18, Smith was caring for two children, 4-year-old Kelaiah and newborn Nelly, with little help from her abusive relationship. The circumstances were difficult, but she knew the tears were more than that.

"I really didn't have a connection for her," says Smith, now a 36-year-old motivational speaker and mother of three living in Philadelphia. "I didn't even want to breastfeed because I didn't want that closeness with her."

The emotions were overwhelming, but Smith couldn't bring herself to ask for help.

Read more: https://www.kut.org/post/black-mothers-get-less-treatment-their-postpartum-depression

[The Polack MSgt]

1. African Americans get less pain meds and wait longer for therapies and treatments

even when their ailments have known, approved and effective treatments available.

Why is that?

Perhaps because of the racist beliefs of the medical community?

Just as 1 indicator, approximately half of doctors surveyed believed that Blacks felt pain at a lower intensity than whites or Asians.

The medical field is a bastion of upper crust white wealth and privilege.