Rise offers mental health services, safe space for Black parents
About 15 parents stood in a circle at Blacklick Woods Metro Park in Reynoldsburg, braving the heat and humidity of a late July night.
Everyone closed their eyes. One woman has her hand on her heart and the other on her stomach.
“I am enough as I am,” said Ivory Levert, leading a guided meditation. “I accept moments of rest and ease and put them into everyday life. I speak my truth and ask what I need.”
The group was assembled on July 24 as part of Root to Rise, an event where the cofounders of the organization Black Women In Nature took members of Rise – a maternal mental health organization that specifically serves black women parents – to walk in the park.
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Rise is a branch of Perinatal Outreach and Encouragement for Moms (POEM), a program of Mental Health America in Ohio that provides peer support groups, referrals, and education on pregnancy and mood and anxiety disorders for mothers and families in Ohio.
The nature walk concludes Rise’s week of events for Black Maternal Mental Health Week, which in turn is part of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in July. The call recognizes the struggles that underrepresented groups face with regard to mental illness in the United States, according to Mental Health America.
To help, Rise provides a mentor program and referrals to counselors and psychiatrists of color, among other offerings.
“They provide wraparound services like support groups that happen all the time and then they also call you depending on what’s going on in your pregnancy or in your life,” said member Tiffany Davis Hale, 30, on the East Side. “It’s really based on what you need and I like that.”
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Rise creates a safe space for Black families
When Hailee Childs, 34, joined POEM as senior manager of community programs in 2019, Rise was already being developed by the organization. His job is to promote it and organize the first support group.
“We started being intentional about making sure we were in the doctor’s offices, the OB (obstetrician’s) office, the pediatrician’s offices and the WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) offices where the our mothers,” said the children.
POEM and Rise program coordinator Cass Stewart, 44, said the organization recognized there was a gap in care for women of color in Greater Columbus and that a separate branch was needed.
According to the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety disorders are the most common complications of pregnancy and childbirth, affecting one in five people during pregnancy or after giving birth. .
Black women are twice as likely to experience mental health conditions but only half as likely to receive treatment. More than 50% of postpartum depression cases for women of color go unreported, according to the alliance.
“We realized that our services needed to be more culturally connected and specific for that group,” Stewart said. “So Rise became something and started to grow.”
The number of referrals from health care providers increased significantly in the early days of the pandemic, especially when shutdown orders were in place, Stewart said.
For this year, the number of referrals is 576 people, said Childs.
Most of Rise’s support group meetings have been virtual for the past two years, but they will switch to in-person gatherings at the end of August, he said.
Both Childs and Stewart know about these types of services. Both said they experienced depression and anxiety after giving birth prematurely.
“I feel like I’m just using my superpowers to help other moms activate their superpowers too, that you really can do it,” Stewart said.
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One of the Rise members who attended a recent nature walk was Turquoise Connelly, who noted, as the group took their first break during a 1.5-mile walk, how invigorating it was to be in nature. with a group of Black women.
“Usually, when I go alone, I feel more and more physically alone and then realize that people have their expectations and aggression towards Black people in the woods; as if nothing you need to be there,” Connelly said. “But I don’t feel that way now.”
Connelly, who is non-binary and uses their pronouns, said they felt alone after having their daughter Riley in 2020, experiencing postpartum depression and anxiety. Much of that stress is due to being diagnosed with postpartum preeclampsia, a condition that occurs when one has high blood pressure after giving birth.
“It made breastfeeding very difficult, and I had all these people (doctors and lactation groups) shame me when I was struggling to breastfeed and they wouldn’t give me any medical support for it to help me increase my supply,” Connelly said. “And emotional resources are also lacking.”
The 33-year-old from Franklinton was prescribed two high blood pressure medications but still had trouble pumping milk. So, they switched to formula.
Connolly joined Rise in February and says their mental health has improved dramatically. Members referred them to a therapist to help with anxiety and depression and they felt welcomed into the group as an LGBTQ person. One-year-old Riley even joined Connelly on a nature walk.
Now pregnant with their second child, Connolly feels more prepared this time around.
“POEM is a precious resource. It is priceless.”
@micah_walker701
