American Indian and Alaskan Native Maternal Mental Health

While mothers of any race can face mental health conditions during pregnancy and after childbirth, American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN)7 women experience higher rates than the average population (Foley & Strunz, 2022). Though the body of research is still growing in the United States, initial data on the prevalence of maternal depression for AI/AN women in the United States ranges from 14-30% (Heck, 2021). Studies based on international Indigenous populations suggest that Indigenous women experience an even greater risk for maternal depression and anxiety: Indigenous women experience depression 87% more often than White women (Black et al., 2019) and experience maternal anxiety 37% more often than non-Indigenous women (Owais et al., 2019).