Maternal Depression in Barbados: Exploring How Black Women Experience, Understand, Manage and Cope with Self-Reported 'Baby Blues' and Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression is a major depressive disorder whose onset can appear up to one year after delivery and last for weeks, months or years (O'Hara, 1987). The `baby blues' is a mild affective syndrome common during the first three days after birth and can last up to 10 days (O'Hara, 1987; Cole, 2009). Existing research on maternal depression in the English-speaking Caribbean uses epidemiological methods to investigate the incidence and prevalence of depression occurring during pregnancy and the postpartum period, but largely excludes research on the `baby blues'. Also absent from the Caribbean research are studies that use qualitative methods which can help build understanding about how women's social worlds impact their mental health (Amankwaa, 2003; Almond, 2009). To investigate these gaps, a qualitative research project was conducted with 11 (n=11) Black women in Barbados to explore how they have understood, managed, coped, and sought treatment for self-reported postpartum depression and the `baby blues'. Black Feminist and Caribbean Feminist Theoretical frameworks anchored the project and helped consider how women's social, historical, racial, and cultural backgrounds were linked to their maternal mental health. The project's findings show that early maternal depression literature from North America and Europe largely excluded women from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. Studies conducted to fill this gap have recorded higher rates for the `baby blues' and postpartum depression in Caribbean contexts. Research with Black Caribbean women in the Diaspora highlights their Intersectional experiences and explanatory models which have helped them understand maternal depression. Barriers that prevented research participants from receiving the maternal mental health care they needed included a lack of formal information and education on maternal depression at the postnatal stage; proliferation of international and non-local information sources on maternal depression; women's intersecting race, class and gendered experiences with self-reported maternal depression; and social/cultural stigmas around mental health. The formal and informal supportive resources women discussed and critiqued during their maternal depression experiences included local healthcare institutions, family members, intimate partners, and religious and spiritual sources. The research findings confirm that maternal depression exists in Barbados, and affirms that these conditions are a global public health concern. They also show that an Intersectional framework can facilitate analyses that acknowledge women's multi-layered identities which can help transform how maternal depression is treated and prevented.Ph.D