As maternal mental health advocates, we appreciate Jennifer Wadsworth’s May 10 Health & Science article, “Increased perinatal and postpartum depression.” This problem demands urgent action. But the aforementioned health system responses should be the beginning, not the end, of reform.
Long before the coronavirus, millions of pregnant women and mothers faced domestic or community violence, poverty, and the denial of health care, food, and child care, among other threats. Under those circumstances, anxiety, depression, and other “disorders” are best understood as normal responses to very real dangers. The health system can do little to mitigate these threats. And, as noted in the article, maternal mental health issues are more common among women of color and other marginalized people, who have historically been underserved by the health care system.
