“When my baby was born, I didn't have that joy. I looked at her, and I wanted to be happy… but all I could think about was what the heck just happened.”
What Sandra Igwe had just experienced was birth trauma. From the disrespect and dehumanisation throughout her pregnancy, to the lack of dignity and autonomy during childbirth, she could barely process what was going on.
As she recounts in her new book ‘My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System’, similar experiences are all too common among Black women and women of colour.
