Halle Bailey Leaves Social Media: Black Women's Experience With Postpartum Depression

Halle Bailey Leaves Social Media: Black Women's Experience With Postpartum Depression

By now, we all know that singer Halle Bailey and her longtime boyfriend, rapper and streamer DDG, officially called it quits earlier this year. Bailey, 24, welcomed her first child with the streamer back in January, which they both excitedly shared snippets of online. On July 3, 2024, they decided to share photos from a photoshoot showing Halo’s face during a trip to Italy.

The photos were meant to be exclusive images sold to a publication, but sadly, they were not purchased, so the couple decided to share them with the public via their social media accounts. Since then, DDG has uploaded numerous photos and images with his son, and Halle has shared cute "mommy and me" photo dumps. When DDG announced on Instagram that they were ending their relationship, many people had questions.

Some speculated it was due to DDG’s immaturity and his excessive sharing of their baby online for clicks and views; baby Halo even became a meme at one point. It was evident that Halle did not approve of this, as they announced their split shortly afterward. Last night, DDG made an appearance on Kai Cenat’s streaming platform, accompanied by his son, Halo, who is now around seven months old.

Halle quickly took to Twitter to share the following: “Hi everyone, just so you know, I am out of town and don’t approve of my baby being on a stream tonight. I wasn’t told or notified, and I am extremely upset to have my baby in front of millions of people. I am his mother and protector and saddened that I wasn’t notified, especially when I am out of town,” she continued in another tweet.

“As a woman experiencing severe postpartum depression, there are boundaries that I wish to be respected. Nobody knows what someone is going through until they snap.” After receiving backlash for the tweets, Halle deactivated both her Twitter and Instagram accounts. This is not the first time Bailey has spoken about her experience with postpartum, as she previously described to fans on Snapchat that she is struggling with the mental health condition.

Halle Bailey Leaves Social Media: Black Women's Experience With Postpartum Depression


“I just want to speak a little bit about my postpartum journey as a new mom and now trying to work while still being severely postpartum. So, honestly, I have severe, severe postpartum, and it’s to the point where it’s really bad, and it’s hard for me to be separated from my baby for more than thirty minutes at a time before I start to freak out,” the singer went on to share, adding, “the only thing that’s been hard for me is feeling normal in my own body. I feel like a completely different person when I look in the mirror. I just feel like I’m in a whole new body, and I don’t know who I am.”

Based on this information, it’s safe to deduce that Halle is experiencing a particular type of PPD, which can sometimes intersect with attachment issues, such as an anxious attachment style, particularly during the vulnerable postpartum period. An anxious attachment to a baby may manifest as a heightened need to stay close, extreme worry about the baby’s safety, or reluctance to let others care for them. While this can be part of the bonding process, if a mother feels overwhelmed by fear, guilt, or distress, it may be linked to PPD or postpartum anxiety.

In PPD, symptoms often include persistent sadness, feelings of worthlessness, or detachment, while postpartum anxiety may present as excessive worry, irritability, or hypervigilance. In cases where a mother does not want to leave her baby, it could be a sign of needing professional help. In this case, we see that Halle is vocal about Darryl (DDG) being a good and present father, yet she’s still voicing her grievances about him publicly exposing their child to the world. Many people did not come to Halle’s aid, however, calling her a hypocrite since she frequently posts images of herself and Halo and has even done lives with him alongside her sister, Chloe.

He is exposed during those times as well, but as mentioned above, it could simply be her excessive worry and the belief that if she’s sharing the images, she has some level of control and feels her son is safe. However, if he’s being exposed via a livestream with his father and Kai Cenat, she has no control and therefore perceives that environment as dangerous. Perhaps because this type of PPD is not widely discussed, it’s not being taken seriously, and she cannot receive the support she is seeking online. Treatment for this type of PPD includes therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or interpersonal therapy, which can help new mothers build confidence, address fears, and establish healthy boundaries.

Black women in the United States face significantly higher risks during pregnancy and childbirth compared to other racial groups. They are approximately three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Factors contributing to these alarming rates include systemic racism, implicit biases in healthcare, lack of access to adequate prenatal care, and socioeconomic barriers, which can result in delayed treatment and dismissal of symptoms.

Halle Bailey Leaves Social Media: Black Women's Experience With Postpartum Depression


Complications such as preterm birth and lack of access to maternal healthcare also contribute to higher maternal and infant mortality among Black women. These disparities highlight the importance of addressing structural issues within the healthcare system, increasing access to culturally competent healthcare providers, and enhancing maternal mental health support to improve outcomes for Black mothers.

In October, ABC News reported that at Woodhull Hospital, a third Black or brown woman lost her life during childbirth within the last four years. Beverly Garcia Barrios appeared to be a healthy 24-year-old pregnant woman, but things changed once she went to the hospital. After stating that she was not feeling well, doctors rushed her in for an emergency C-section, and the father never saw her again.

In 2020, a young woman by the name of Sha-asia Washington also had an emergency C-section at the same hospital and was later pronounced dead. In November of 2023, it was Christine Fields who, according to the New York medical examiner, died of hemorrhaging from a C-section, also at Woodhull. Systemic racism is, of course, a leading cause of mortality rates in Black and brown communities due to several factors, which I will break down in detail in another article – how to make money while pregnant and unemployed.

Black women should not ignore the cries of another Black woman as it pertains to motherhood because, ultimately, no one is going to protect Black women. Although Halle’s PPD looks different from that of many other women, it does not mean she isn’t experiencing something traumatic and life-altering that is prompting her to end her relationship, isolate herself on a beach, and now take to social media to air her grievances. This is not the time to poke fun or call her names such as a hypocrite. She is not acting on impulse; she is dealing with a mental condition that is still underdeveloped and under-researched. We wish Halle well and hope she continues to spread awareness.

by Harley Miller & Danielle Wright

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