The mental health of mothers cannot be studied in isolation, as just a psychological snapshot in time. Their complex lives both past and present must be taken into consideration. When I was researching marriage, motherhood, and social support in Korogocho, an informal settlement in Nairobi, stories I heard underscored how a range of life experiences conspire to affect a woman’s mental health. I heard life histories like this:

When Ann was 17, she met Fredrick, got pregnant and moved in with him when she was 18. Two years later, Fredrick got arrested and was gone for two years. When he came back, she got pregnant with child No. 2 within a month but then left the relationship seven months later because of ongoing conflict. When she was about 23 with a 2-month-old and 5-year-old, Frederick shot her. Two months later, he himself was killed. Four months later, she met the man who would become her second husband. After living together for three years, he took her back to his home to meet his family. She then had her third baby.