Before She Breaks: Community Care for Black Motherhood
Written by Guest Blogger Arija Israel, M.S., M.Ed., LPC-Candidate, CBS
The “Strong Black Woman” syndrome looks exactly like carrying the weight of the world, but lacking necessary support. It has plagued a community who have already been weathered by racism, discrimination, provider bias, and economic inequities. Seventy percent of Black women surveyed in the 2023 State of Self Care Report said they experience high levels of stress daily, 60% felt it was difficult to find and access formal mental health resources, and 49% indicated stress impacts them on a daily basis (Exhale, 2023). Patience is an expectation, but this type of endurance comes with a cost.
Understanding the Crisis
One in five women experience a perinatal mental health condition. A perinatal mental health condition is a mental health concern, like anxiety, depression, or obsessive compulsive disorder, that arises at any point in a person’s reproductive journey. For Black mothers, that number is even higher. Over 50% of postpartum depression cases among Black women go unreported (Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice), with fear, stigma, and poor access to care keeping many suffering in silence as a norm. This crisis is not biological; it’s structural, and it runs deep. Black women are also three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women (Hoyert, 2023). And while 80% of those deaths could be prevented, there’s continual racism and bias shaping treatment and dismissal of symptoms. What begins as neglect in healthcare becomes trauma in the mind and body.
The Perinatal Impact of Trauma
Trauma is often unspoken and invisible to others. In the birth space, it hides behind forced compliance, medical dismissal, and the pressure to stay strong. Black women remember the tone of a provider’s voice, the fear of not being believed, the moment her control was taken. That memory lives in her nervous system, and it changes how she sleeps, eats, bonds, and copes. Now add adjusting to motherhood with a newborn, sometimes other children, a spouse, work, and an entirely new normal. For Black women, perinatal mental health distress often shows up as:
Isolation
Irritability
Disconnect
Worry
Somatic symptoms (migraines, stomach aches, etc).
But it’s difficult to seek help in a world that has publicly failed Black women time and time again. So we sit in silence hoping for someone to notice the slightest hint of abnormality.
Protection and Restoration
Who sees the whole woman, not just her symptoms?
Who advocates for rest and recovery?
Who helps process the experience, not just push past it?
Who listens without judgment and creates safety?
Community is the earliest intervention for protection - doulas, lactation consultants, therapists, support groups, friends, and family. Maternal health specialists and close loved ones are uniquely positioned to identify gaps and signs of distress early. They are on the frontlines and in the homes of the very women that need a lifeline. So where do we begin?
Support must appear early and often, from pre-conception through motherhood.
Mental health conversations must be part of every birth and postpartum plan.
Grief-informed care must be embedded specifically for infertility, miscarriage, and loss.
Fertility evaluation, treatment, and financial resources must be expanded.
Peer support groups must be available and accessible.
Black women should not have to reach a crisis before being heard. Mental health care must live in the same spaces as maternal health care. Community restores what the system takes. It is how we protect the Black woman before she breaks.
Resource Networks for Black women:
National Maternal Mental Health Hotline (1-833-TLC-MAMA)
Article Resources
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Guest Author: Arija Israel, M.S., M.Ed., LPC-Candidate, CBS
Arija is a birth doula and Certified Breastfeeding Specialist trained in perinatal mental health. Her work centers on the unique challenges Black women face during pregnancy and postpartum, where mental health concerns too often go unrecognized or unsupported. Arija empowers women with the knowledge and resources to navigate their health journeys and equips professionals with the tools to provide culturally responsive care.
Website: www.cultivatedconsult.com
PSI Directory: https://psidirectory.com/listing/puahsheart.html
ROOTed: Mental Health Training for Perinatal Professionals
About the Trauma-Informed Maternal Health Directory
Liz Gray, LCSW and Olivia Verhulst, LMHC, PMH-C— co-founders of the Trauma-Informed Maternal Health Directory— are clinical psychotherapists with a deep passion for increasing accessibility of trauma-informed care to the maternal health population.
They created this specialized directory to connect women & birthing people to trauma-informed health & mental health providers who specialize in infertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and new parenthood.
Search the directory: https://directory.maternaltraumasupport.com/
Interested in writing a guest blog post?
If you are a trauma-informed provider who works with the perinatal population, submit a blog proposal HERE!
Please make sure the article is original content that aligns with our values of safety, inclusion, transparency, collaboration, empowerment, and support.
