Virtual conversation addresses maternal mental health using comedy

According to the National Institutes of Health, one in eight women experiences postpartum depression or anxiety. That number almost doubles for Black women.

Pregnant woman with headphones using laptopJoin the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Institute for Arts in Medicine for laughter, education and advocacy during the workshop Maternal Mental Health: Education and Advocacy Through Comedy. The online discussion is free to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, May 17. 

The evening will feature Angelina Spicer, a mother, comedian and documentarian based  in Los Angeles, California. On social media she became well known for her comedic videos, and has since become a regular performer on both “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Conan.” In 2017, she became an advocate for maternal mental health after her diagnosis and hospitalization for postpartum depression. 

Now Spicer not only uses her voice for laughter but is working with lawmakers in California and on Capitol Hill to implement laws that support early motherhood.

Joining her in the conversation is Eynav Accortt, Ph.D., researcher and director of the new Reproductive Psychology Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Accortt studies the physiological processes that are associated with higher risk for depression and anxiety in pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause and following diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer and heart disease.

AIM’s virtual Mental Health Monday series is made possible by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and Encompass Health. To register for the event, click here.