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Childbirth and postpartum health, from a firsthand account to a look at disparities

Emily Fields plays with her daughter Emma as she describes her battle with postpartum depression following Emma’s birth.
Tyler Russell
/
Connecticut Public
Emily Fields plays with her daughter Emma as she describes her battle with postpartum depression following Emma’s birth.

Giving birth can have a serious impact on a person’s physical and mental health. Postpartum psychosis has been in the news recently due to the Lindsay Clancy case, but that is just one of many challenges that people can face during and after childbirth. 1 in 8 people who give birth experience postpartum depression. That’s according to the CDC.

There are also disparities in the way childbirth affects people— the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black people was three times higher than the rate for non-Hispnaic white people in 2023 and 2024.

This hour, we discuss childbirth and postpartum health.

GUESTS:

Resources Discussed in this Episode:

Special thanks to our interns Julian Clarke-Dixon and Cooper Formica.

Disrupted is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

Erica McIntosh is Senior Regional Editor for Southern Connecticut. Erica is a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award recipient and Emmy-nominated journalist.
Kevin Chang Barnum is a producer for Connecticut Public Radio’s weekly show Disrupted. Kevin grew up in Connecticut and started his radio work at his graduate university’s radio station, KUCI. He has also worked for HRN, a network of food and beverage podcasts.
Dr. Khalilah L. Brown-Dean is an award-winning scholar at Wesleyan University, author, and host of 'Disrupted' on Connecticut Public.
Robyn Doyon-Aitken is the Director of Audio Storytelling and Talk Shows
Meg Fitzgerald is the senior manager of projects and radio programming.

Funding provided by:
The Connecticut Office of Film, Television and Digital Media

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