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How A Standup Comedian Is Reducing The Stigma Around Post-Partum Depression

Angelina Spicer
Angelina Spicer is a standup comedian based in Los Angeles.

After the birth of her daughter four years ago, Angelina Spicer fell into a depression so severe she was eventually admitted to a psychiatric facility. At the time she says she struggled to find friends who’d shared her experience, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate as many as one in nine women suffer from post-partum depression. Now, Spicer wants to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around this form of depression – by joking about it onstage as part of her standup comedy routine.

Credit Angelina Spicer
Spicer and daughter Ava.

She’ll be speaking in Fresno on Saturday April 13 as part of a March of Dimes event kicking off Black Maternal Health Week, which aims to celebrate African American mothers while raising awareness of the risks of adverse birth outcomes like preterm birth and maternal mortality.

In this interview, we speak with Spicer about her upcoming performance, a documentary she’s producing about post-partum depression, and how she uses humor to get through hard times.

Kerry Klein is an award-winning reporter whose coverage of public health, air pollution, drinking water access and wildfires in the San Joaquin Valley has been featured on NPR, KQED, Science Friday and Kaiser Health News. Her work has earned numerous regional Edward R. Murrow and Golden Mike Awards and has been recognized by the Association of Health Care Journalists and Society of Environmental Journalists. Her podcast Escape From Mammoth Pool was named a podcast “listeners couldn’t get enough of in 2021” by the radio aggregator NPR One.
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