Keywords
Postpartum depression; healthcare provider; Black women; racism; bias; implicit
Abstract
Postpartum depression is one of the most common issues that women face after birth. Many different factors can contribute to the development of postpartum depression, including perinatal complications, prenatal depression, or social factors. One of the social factors that Black women, specifically, face leading to postpartum depression is discrimination. The purpose of this literature review is to identify research that focuses on whether implicit bias and discrimination by healthcare providers contributes to postpartum depression among Black women. A literature review was conducted using databases including CINHAL Plus Text, CINHAL ULTIMATE, Medline, and APA Psycinfo, with terms that included “healthcare provider* or “clinician*” or” nurs*” or “healthcare professional*, or “hospital”, AND “bias”, or “prejudice”, or “discrimination” or “stereotype” or “stigma” or “attitude” or “racial” or “treatment” or “racism” AND “postpartum depression” or “ppd” or “postpartum blues” or “postpartum depressive symptoms” AND “Black” or “African American” or “African-American” yielded a result of 134 articles. Out of the 134 articles found, a total of three studies were included in the literature review. Two of the studies did not find an association of implicit bias by healthcare providers did not contribute to postpartum depression among Black women, while one study found that implicit bias by healthcare related to postpartum depression among Black women. However, the studies that did not find a correlation between implicit bias from healthcare providers and postpartum depression among Black women, had small percentages of Black women as part of their sample. Future research needs to focus on having a more representative sample of Black women when focusing on whether implicit bias relates to postpartum depression, as Black women are more likely to experience health disparities and experience postpartum depression.
Thesis Completion Year
2025
Thesis Completion Semester
Spring
Thesis Chair
Giurgescu, Carmen
College
College of Nursing
Department
College of Nursing
Thesis Discipline
Nursing
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
None
Campus Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
STARS Citation
Costa, Chelsea T., "The Association Between Implicit Bias from Healthcare Providers and Postpartum Depression Among Black Women." (2025). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 295.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/295
Included in
Maternal, Child Health and Neonatal Nursing Commons, Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Commons
Rights Statement
