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Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Meghan and Harry has clearly become a spark for international discussions on racism and the state of the British royal family. And it also brought new attention to another issue.
Meghan’s revelation of her mental anguish during and after her first pregnancy, including suicidal thoughts so important that she feared being left alone – and that the palace had been an obstacle to the help she needed – seemed painfully familiar to many.
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The experience of life-threatening pregnancy complications, both mental and physical, is surprisingly common. If it hasn’t happened to you, it almost certainly has happened to someone you care about, even though you might not know it.
Twitter was quickly filled with people sharing their own stories of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts during and after pregnancy.
“The interview brought me back that really bad time in my life where I felt like I was venting, when my thoughts just wouldn’t let me be,” Wendy Molyneux, mother of four and showrunner of the animated series “Great North,” which experienced debilitating postpartum anxiety after having her fourth child, said via direct message.
Pragya Agarwal, data scientist and author of an upcoming book on the history and science of motherhood, said that after her twins were born prematurely, “I just wanted to be gone.”
“I was about to just want to leave, basically not to be here, and not just to live,” she said. “I was crying and sitting in my car in the supermarket parking lot.”
Members of the royal family are said to be a very special type of celebrity, a sort of human embodiment of charming respectability. Now, in her post-palace life, Meghan has become an avatar of the disconnect between societal expectations of pregnancy and reality – and this collective misperception, experts say, adds to the danger.
Most statistics suggest that 15% to 25% of women experience depression during or after pregnancy, but this range is probably underestimated.
“Due to the stigma surrounding disclosing a negative mood at this time as well as the difficulty for people to take it seriously, this number is likely to be much higher,” Emma Svanberg, clinical psychologist specializing in peripartum – the previous period and after childbirth – mental health, said by e-mail.
In a 2017 survey of 1,000 British women, almost 50% of those surveyed said they had had a mental or emotional problem, but half of them had not had this problem identified by a healthcare professional .
Meghan did not say if she had been diagnosed with peripartum depression or any other condition. But experts are increasingly recommending extending specialist care to women who experience severe distress during or after pregnancy, whether or not they match a specific diagnosis.
“Some researchers have suggested that we should, rather than looking at particular diagnostic categories, instead refer to ‘perinatal distress’ to encompass the complexity of the difficulties encountered at this time,” Svanberg said.
The stakes, after all, are extremely high. Pregnant women are at risk of stroke, bleeding, infection, and other complications that can be fatal to parents and baby. But mental distress is one of the most serious risks of all. In developed countries, suicide “is one of the leading causes of death during the perinatal period (The leading cause of death in 2003), ”Svanberg wrote.
Discussions about pregnancy and mental health often focus on the effect of pregnancy hormones on mood. But while this is a factor, there is substantial evidence that other stressors play a role as well – so much so that around 10% of fathers also experience postpartum depression.
“Meghan was a pregnant woman living in an unknown country and isolated from her family and social support, with enormous and new pressures placed on her in her role as well as the pressures felt by all women during the perinatal period,” Svanberg said. “I can’t begin to imagine going through this with criticism, hostility and judgment. How could there not have been an emotional fallout?
Meghan also discussed the bigotry she faced due to her Métis heritage, which could have increased her risk. “Studies show that women who experience structural racism are at even greater risk of postpartum depression and anxiety,” said Payal K. Shah, human rights lawyer and reproductive health scholar and sexual at the University of Toronto Law School.
“People of color are more likely to have mental health issues and less likely to receive appropriate help,” Svanberg said. Maternal mortality rates for black women in Britain are four times higher than those for white women, and studies have shown that medical workers tend to underestimate black women’s pain during childbirth, which can deprive them of the drugs and care they need.
The popular image of pregnancy as something happy and simple, troubled only by cute issues like wanting to put pickles on ice cream, or brief issues like a painful natural childbirth, can mean that those who have pregnancies more difficult ones may face stigma and dismissal if they seek help.
“At the root of the barriers to maternal mental health care are gender stereotypes that promote the idea that women should be ‘sacrificing mothers’, who should prioritize the alleged needs of their families and children. their children, even to their own survival and well-being. Said Shah, who has worked on reproductive and maternity rights issues around the world. “These stereotypes lead to the stigma of health care for pregnant women or mothers who suffer from depression or anxiety, rather than just joy or contentment.”
“There’s also an allocation of blame, that there has to be something wrong with what we’re doing if we’re not feeling 100%,” Agarwal said. “Women also feel guilty for being fragile, overly emotional and nervous.”
Although some in the UK media have criticized Meghan for claiming to be a victim despite her wealth and privileges, many with more first-hand experience saw her story as a sign that these problems could happen to anyone. who, whatever the circumstances.
Molyneux said she was moved to hear Meghan speak so candidly during the interview.
“I felt a great wave of relief wash over me to see this incredibly accomplished person admit to having had some mental health issues,” she said.
“For people who are less privileged than me, women in jobs where it’s less safe to admit you’re struggling, they can point to that person with the wealth and privilege – a literal duchess – and say, ‘ It’s not my fault, it can happen to anyone and I need help. “
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
© 2021 The New York Times Company
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