Pathways To Equitable And Antiracist Maternal Mental Health Care: Insights From Black Women Stakeholders

Abstract

Structural racism causes significant inequities in the diagnosis of perinatal and maternal mental health disorders and access to perinatal and maternal mental health treatment. Black birthing populations are particularly burdened by disjointed systems of care for mental health. To identify strategies to address racism and inequities in maternal and infant mental health care, we interviewed ten Black women who support Black birthing people, including mental health practitioners, researchers, and activists, in February 2021. The five key pathways to address racism and inequities that we identified from the stakeholder interviews are educating and training practitioners; investing in the Black women mental health workforce; investing in Black women-led communitybased organizations; valuing, honoring, and investing in community and traditional healing practices; and promoting integrated care and shared decision making. These pathways highlight critical resources needed to improve the quality of maternal mental health care for Black birthing populations.

Assessment of Canadian perinatal mental health services from the provider perspective: Where can we improve?

“…Additionally, offering services within the community, such as doula and peer support can be an effective way to engage individuals, such as racialized people, who are more likely to have a lack of trust in the medical systems. Many racialized communities prefer gaining their support from providers who are from their community and also from agencies that are within their community (38).…”

Comparison of Estimated Incentives for Preventing Postpartum Depression in Value-Based Payment Models Using the Net Present Value of Care vs Total Cost of Care

“…Future research should analyze how antiracist policies and practices could be incentivized through NPVoC-based VBP models. 52 …”

Scoping Review of Racial and Ethnic Representation of Participants in Mental Health Research Conducted in the Perinatal Period During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The increasing racial and ethnic diversity in North America, together with the recent national focus on the increased maternal mortality and morbidity among women of color ( Howell, 2018 ; Kozhimannil et al., 2020 ), has led to renewed social justice movements that call out structural racism and implicit bias ( Harris et al., 2021 ; Huggins et al., 2020 ; Matthews et al., 2021 ; Taylor, 2020 ). Although review articles have mapped the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal mental health issues across the globe, the race and ethnicity of research participants have not been discussed ( Iyengar et al., 2021 ; Kotlar et al., 2021 ; Suwalska et al., 2021 ; Yan et al., 2020 ) and remain unknown.…”