Sharline Chiang, a Berkeley-based writer and editor, has written for Mutha, BuzzFeed and OZY. While struggling with severe postpartum depression (PPD) in 2011, she searched everywhere for articles on Asian American women and PPD. Finding none, she vowed that if and when she recovered, she would write one to let others know that they are not alone.
Asian American women speak out on postpartum depression and anxiety
When Mimi Khúc, 33, had her first child four years ago, she had an easy pregnancy and home birth.
“Everything was super happy and glorious, for maybe a week and a half,” she says.
On top of recovering from childbirth, she was nursing around the clock and getting very little rest. She had difficulties with breastfeeding and pumping. Her daughter wouldn’t drink from a bottle and was losing weight; she was also colicky and needed to be bounced continuously.
Mom and writer Sharline Chiang struggles to tell her mom the truth about her postpartum depression and anxiety.