Social Work 5463: Post-Partum Depression in African-American Women

This literature review examines the prevalence, impact, and potential interventions for postpartum depression (PPD) among African American women. It highlights that these women experience higher rates of PPD compared to white women, often due to a combination of biological factors, socioeconomic challenges, and cultural influences. The review explores the impact of cultural differences on access to care and treatment, including the stigma associated with mental health within the African American community. It analyzes how low income, lack of social support, and intimate partner violence contribute to the development of PPD. The report also discusses the maladaptive behaviors and emotional changes associated with PPD, such as sadness, anxiety, and difficulty caring for oneself and the baby. Finally, the review suggests intervention approaches, including emotional and social support, targeted services, and community-based interventions to address this critical issue. The report emphasizes the need for increased awareness and culturally sensitive care to improve outcomes for African American mothers experiencing PPD.

Running head: POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
Post-Partum Depression of African American women
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Depression among low income African women........................................................................2
Cultural differences and its effect on post-partum depression...................................................3
Effect of post-partum depression on African-American women...............................................4
Intervention approaches for addressing issue............................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................7

2POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
Introduction
Postpartum depression is brought about in the women owing to the changes in the
hormone levels that takes place after the childbirth. The women having the post-partum
depression suffer from the feelings of the sadness along with the anxiety which prevents them
from carrying out daily tasks (Gelaye et al., 2016). This condition have been found to
develop within 4 to the 6 weeks after the mothers gives birth to the children. The African-
American women have the higher chances of developing the post-partum depression when
compared to the white women. They do not receive the treatment that makes them prone to
the incidence of the depression after the birth of their child. There exist the important cultural
along with the societal factors that makes the African-American women refrain from getting
any kind of help. There exists a mental stigma regarding mental health within United States
and it have been found to be stronger within the African-American community. This
literature review focuses on prevalence of the post-partum depression among the African
women having the low income. This review talks about the effect of the depression on the
African- American women and the intervention approaches that can be adopted that can
resolve the issue.
Depression among low income African women
The African- American women belonging to the age group 25-35 suffers from the
depression, anxiety along with the headaches after they give birth to a child (Gelaye et al.,
2016). It takes place on account of the fluctuation of the hormones which causes
inconvenience for the mothers (Irizarry et al., 2017). Prenatal along with the post-partum
periods represents the time of the unique vulnerability to the mental illness as the women at
this time goes through conflicting emotions at this time. The women have been found to
develop the hallucinations along with the delusion in the event of suffering from the disorder.

3POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
According to Tikmani, Soomro and Tikmani (2016), the African-American mothers have to
face the issue of the isolation when they are in the age range of 25-35 that makes them fall
prey to the depression. The dearth of the social support that the African women get makes
them more vulnerable to the depression. It have however been found that the African
American women are financially impoverished and this makes them suffer from the disease.
The rate of the depression among these section of the population have been found to be twice
when compared to the middle-class section of the population. The educational level along
with the history of the interpersonal violence gives way to the depression among the African-
American women. The women develop the post-partum psychosis and they develop various
kinds of symptoms like the hallucinations along with the delusions. The women who have a
history of the depression have greater chances of falling prey to this disease that disrupts the
normal flow of life of the individuals. The members of this section of population have to face
various kinds of stress that triggers the depression in these women. The intimate partner
violence is another important factor that creates the way for the post-partum depression in the
women who are around the age of 25.
Cultural differences and its effect on post-partum depression
There exist the differences in the initiation along with the continuation of the care that
makes the black women along with the Latinas suffer from the effect of the post-partum
depression. They do not get the needed services and hence they have to suffer from the brunt
of the depression. The differences represent the racial-ethnic disparities that can be stated to
be related to the outreach, service provision along with the detection. It have been found that
the postpartum depression remains under recognized problem and this poses the danger for
the African American women (Tikmani, Soomro & Tikmani., 2016). The blacks along with
the Latinas had lesser chances than the whites in initiating the mental health care after the
process of the delivery. The time from the delivery to the treatment initiation can be said to

4POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
be of crucial importance as early detection can minimize negative effect of illness. It have
been brought out by Irizarry et al. (2017) that the women of the colour experience the
postpartum depression at rate which is close to 38 % when compared to 13 to the 19 % of all
the post-partum women. The black women along with the Latinas did not initiate the care and
this made them fall prey to the post-partum depression. The white American received the
treatment for a longer period of time that helped them in getting rid of the post-partum
depression. The black and the Hispanic women experience the maternal depression and they
have the higher rate of the adversities when compared to their white counterparts. The
differences helps in representing racial-ethnic disparities which is related to the outreach
along with the process of the postpartum mental health care. The African-American women
who have the low income do not recognize the problem that increases the depression among
these section of the population. It have been found with the help of research that preferences
for the depression treatment modality differ on the basis of the race and the blacks along with
the Latinas prefer the psychotherapy over the usage of the antidepressant medications
(Irizarry et al., 2017).
Effect of post-partum depression on African-American women
The mother have been found to exhibit the maladaptive behaviours like the
sleeplessness along with the irritability in the event of suffering from the post-partum
depression. According to Gelaye et al. (2016), the women experience the sadness and they
feel dissatisfied with that of their lives while suffering from the post-partum depression. They
experience the behaviour change and the mothers break down emotionally when they are
undergoing the depression. The mother loses the ability of caring for her baby along with her
family. The mother have to face a difficult time and they feel the sense of the lack of the
control. The mothers could not manage the daily activities and they had harmful thoughts that
interfered with the activities of the mother (Tikmani, Soomro & Tikmani., 2016). The

5POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
mothers felt distanced and they faced difficulty in focussing on a particular thing. The
mothers experienced the emotional mood swings that acted like a barrier for the mothers. The
mothers developed the tendency of withdrawing from the support systems like the family
along with the friends and they wanted to isolate themselves from the people. The untreated
post-partum depression have detrimental effect on well-being of affected women along with
her family. It bears the long-term consequences for cognitive, emotional along with the
behavioural development of children.
Intervention approaches for addressing issue
African American women can be provided with the emotional support along with the
physical support that can help them in overcoming these problems (Irizarry et al., 2017). The
support should be provided before and after the process of the delivery, this can have a
significant effect on the mother’s prognosis with the depression. The social support can act as
a significant factor that can decrease the depression among African American women.
According to Irizarry et al. (2017), the social support network can be established by the
women that can fulfil emotional needs along with the instrumental needs of mother. It can act
as a crucial protective factor that can treat the aspect of post-partum depression. The targeting
services can be taken recourse to help in making the treatment effective. The problem of post-
partum depression should be acknowledged by the society and that can help in providing the
solution to the problem of post-partum depression. Close friends can provide the valuable
support that can help in successfully dealing with the problem. The self-help groups can lend
valuable support that can help in treating the malaise in the society (Gelaye et al., 2016).
They can help in providing the useful guidance that can help in the reduction of the problem
of isolation among African- American women who have low income (Tikmani, Soomro &
Tikmani., 2016).

6POST-PARTUM DEPRESSION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
Conclusion
African- American women suffer from brunt of the depression along with the anxiety
after giving birth to child. Fluctuation of hormones gives rise to the problem of the post-
partum depression among the African women. The blacks do not receive the mental health
care that makes them suffer from the depression. Social support can be provided to blacks
which can be instrumental in decreasing depression among these section of the population
group.

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References
Gelaye, B., Rondon, M. B., Araya, R., & Williams, M. A. (2016). Epidemiology of maternal
depression, risk factors, and child outcomes in low-income and middle-income
countries. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(10), 973-982. Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221503661630284X
Irizarry, O. C., Levine, L. D., Lewey, J., Boyer, T., Riis, V., Elovitz, M. A., & Arany, Z.
(2017). Comparison of Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Peripartum
Cardiomyopathy Between African American and Non–African American
Women. JAMA cardiology, 2(11), 1256-1260. Retrieved from:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/article-abstract/2657313
Tikmani, S. S., Soomro, T., & Tikmani, P. (2016). Prevalence and determinants of
postpartum depression in a tertiary care hospital. Austin Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, 3(2), 1. Retrieved from:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/pakistan_fhs_mc_chs_chs/366/