Dola Posh has several identities: the photographer; a woman; Nigerian; mother; British.
However, after giving birth, she no longer felt sure of who she was.
Six days after giving birth to her daughter, she was lying on a bed in an English hospital in the midst of a Covid adjustment.
She was worried about how her life had changed and whether she would ever be able to do her favorite thing again – photography.
Unable to visit, relatives continued to call to check on her and the baby. After a difficult pregnancy, Dola felt the pressure.
Her mother was thousands of kilometers away in the place she left two years ago – in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
All of this put her “brain in a very dark place… I thought, “I am me; the kid’s out, I’m still me.’ But no, I’m not me anymore.”
Loss of identity may be one cause of postpartum depression, which disproportionately affects black women. Although she didn’t recognize it at the time, it was something that plagued Dolla.
