Black Maternal
Mental Health Week
A WEEK OF PROGRAMMING
July 19–25, 2026
A week of learning, healing, and community built for the mothers we serve and the providers who care for them.
ABOUT BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH WEEK
A movement born from one woman's loss.
Black Maternal Mental Health Week is observed every year from July 19 to 25. It was founded by Kay Matthews, founder and executive director of The Shades of Blue Project, after the stillbirth of her daughter and her own experience with undiagnosed postpartum depression.
What began as one woman's story of loss and healing has grown into a national movement centered on the specific mental health challenges Black mothers and birthing people face during pregnancy and postpartum.
WHY IT MATTERS
The numbers demand it.
Mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and postpartum psychosis, are a leading cause of pregnancy-related death in the United States.
Black women experience maternal mental health symptoms at nearly twice the rate of the general population. They are far less likely to receive treatment, often due to structural racism, mistrust of the healthcare system, and a lack of culturally responsive care.
Each year, Black Girls Mental Health Foundation joins organizations across the country in a week of programming built for the mothers we serve and the providers who care for them. Below is everything we have planned this year.
Virtual community discussion for mamas
A space that isn't clinical, isn't rushed, and doesn't ask her to perform being okay.
A free, discussion based virtual space for mamas to talk, be heard, and connect with other mothers who understand what they're carrying. Attendees walk away having been genuinely heard, with new connections, and a chance to win a grand prize package including $1,000, a Doona car seat and stroller, and a Mom Cozy breast pump.
Webinar: It starts earlier than you think
Catching the warning signs before they become a crisis.
Presented by Breea Wainwright, LMFT, PMH-C. This session explores how untreated perinatal mental health conditions shape outcomes well into the postpartum period, often earlier than providers expect. Registration includes the recording.
Webinar: EMDR and Perinatal Mental Health
A practical, clinically grounded introduction for providers.
Presented by Dr. Chyna Hill, LCSW, PMH-C, Certified EMDR Practitioner. This session has drawn 150+ attendees each time it's been offered. Attendees leave with a working understanding of how to identify perinatal trauma and apply EMDR informed approaches. Can't make it live? Registration includes the recording.
Community Needs Assessment: Perinatal Mental Health Data Share
A first look at the data shaping our next year of work.
We're sharing first-look findings from our community needs assessment on perinatal mental health, gathered directly from the mothers and families we serve. Built for the providers and funders who make our work possible.
Behind The Joy Film Screening
Come for the story. Stay for the conversation. Leave with a shot at $1,000.
We're sponsoring and co-hosting a screening of Behind the Joy, the award-winning film by director Jamal Smart that follows a family navigating the emotional and psychological weight of postpartum depression. This is for anyone in the Atlanta area who wants to sit with this story in community and walk out having actually talked about it.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Catch Dr. Chyna Hill and Dr. Jaih Craddock presenting at the Shades of Blue Conference in Houston, TX, on July 23-24, 2026