Womi sat on the edge of the hospital bed, her newborn was by her side, tears quietly flowing down her face, not from pain or joy, but from overwhelming waves of overwhelming fatigue, fear and isolation. Despite a flood of congratulatory messages in family group chats and Facebook comments, she felt invisible. No one saw anxiety keep waking up at night. “Are I failing? Why am I so lonely?”
In many parts of the world, one in five new mothers experience a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder. Most suffer in silence. These struggles are often invisible and untreated, and have lasting effects on both mothers and babies. It can happen to any woman, regardless of age, race or income. Signs can appear anytime during pregnancy or within one year of birth.
Being a mother can be one of the most life-changing and transformative experiences a woman can have. However, for some people, it can also feel isolated. As family structures evolve and cultural taboos on mental health persist, many women are navigating motherhood without the traditional support system they once relied on.
Every year from May 5th to May 11th, the global community aims to commemorate Maternal Mental Health Week to raise awareness about maternal mental health and promote social change. The goal is to improve the quality of care for women experiencing all kinds of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD) and ensure that the maternal mind is recognized as essential to women’s lives and health.
This year’s theme, “Your Voice, Your Strength,” is a powerful reminder that every story is important. In Nigeria, more women find strength in their voices and share their stories through social media.
From Heartfelt Instagram posts to supportive WhatsApp groups, digital platforms help turn isolated struggles into collective conversations, linking women with support networks, health resources and culturally relevant interventions.
Maternal mental health: a quiet crisis
Postnatal depression (PPD) and other maternal mental health challenges have quietly affected the well-being of Nigerian families. Research shows that PPD affects 14.6% to 30% of Nigerian mothers, with a national vigilance in which access to mental health services, especially outside urban areas, remains limited. Data from a study of 200 mothers in Nigeria found that 22% reported moderate to severe depression symptoms.
Many women suffer silence, primarily due to pressure from social expectations and misunderstandings, as explored in this insightful 2012 Grant article, mainly due to a lack of awareness about postnatal depression. In a society where silence is often praised for being a “strong woman” and silence is misleading, new mothers are encouraged to smile through lack of sleep, physical recovery, and emotional changes that accompany new identity.
But mental health confusion doesn’t go away just because we refuse to talk about it. Maternal suicide is becoming a public health concern in Nigeria and other low-income countries
Social Media: Lifeline or Load?
Nigeria has witnessed an increase in digital health platforms aimed at providing more structured mental health interventions. Apps like Friendnpal, MyCareBuddy, and Psyndup make mental health help more accessible and provide AI chatbots, Teresarapy and mental health screening tools.
Social media has become an outlet for efforts to support maternal mental health. It offers communities, connections, information and more that many new mothers have been desperately long.
For Nigerian women, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Motherhood forums, it’s more than just a time filler. They are survival tools. Communities such as African Mama, Mamalet and Fab Mum have become a safe space for mothers to share their experiences, receive advice and normalize the daily disruptions of parenting.
These digital platforms echo what mental health professionals know all the time. Social support is one of the most effective buffers for PPD in environments where many mothers are far from their family and mental health care, so the digital village intervenes.
However, the impact on mothers’ mental health remains important, especially for rural and underserved populations. Not all mothers in Nigeria can take advantage of these virtual communities and digital tools. The barrier is genuine and wide:
Digital literacy gap: Many women, especially rural and low-income communities, lack the skills to confidently navigate online platforms. Infrastructure disaster: Unstable electricity, uneven network coverage, and high data costs lead to daily obstacles. Cultural stigma: While patients’ culture shapes mental health experiences and caregiving behaviors, broad assumptions about mental health experiences and inability to make support groups’ viewers a specific audience lead to harmful stereotypes, silence some voices, and even virtual support groups feel unsafe.
These challenges risk exclude the very women who may benefit most from online support.
Many mothers find comfort and connection online, while others discover anxiety, comparison, and constant pressure. Social media can set unrealistic expectations with curated images of clean houses, laughing babies, and heavenly bodies that have returned faster than rubber bands. Supported by algorithms that reward shiny, ambitious things, this digital perfectionism can exacerbate feelings of failure and self-doubt, especially for mothers who are already fighting mental health issues.
So, what will happen next?
Social media is not a hero or a villain. It’s a tool. Like other tools, whether it is useful depending on how it is used and the supporting structure surrounding it.
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To utilize goodness and reduce harm, we must:
Through community workshops and collaborations with local influencers, we promote digital literacy among women, especially in rural areas. Potentially, new mothers will be informed of digital resources during prenatal and postnatal visits to integrate online mental health tools with primary health care to subsidize internet/data access for low-income mothers through maternal health programs or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Encourage responsible expression on social media. Supports influencers who show true, unfiltered aspects of motherhood. Protect your privacy through transparent data policies on the Maternal Health Platform.
Social media has become a space where many mothers do not feel alone. However, just like a real community, people and systems are needed to be safe and useful.
Nigeria needs to break the barriers that stop women from getting the maternal help they need to support their mothers online and beyond. This increases awareness of maternal mental health, better digital skills, affordable internet, strong privacy protection, and mental health support being part of everyday maternal care.
Nigeria can significantly advance maternal mental health, alleviate the burden of PPD and improve maternal outcomes with strong cooperation among policymakers, healthcare providers, tech innovators and community groups.
