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HEalth&Science

TUESDAY, MARCH 1 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/HEALTH EE E

BY ADEIYEWUNMI (ADE) OSINUBI

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ethany Riddick began experiencing symptoms of postpartum depression nearly immediately after the

birth of her son in March 2020. ¶ She didn’t want to watch television, read books, go for walks or even

step onto the balcony of her Milwaukee apartment. Lockdown restrictions had just started in

Wisconsin to slow the spread of the coronavirus, making her feel even more isolated. With her mother

living in another state, she largely spent her postpartum days alone. ¶ “I didn’t really have interest in anything,”

said Riddick, 25. “Some days, I couldn’t pull myself out of bed, except to care for my son.” ¶ When Riddick began

having thoughts of suicide, she researched mental health providers in the area. Many providers were not

accepting new patients, and those with availability wouldn’t accept her insurance. ¶ “When I told them I had

state insurance or that I would need a mental health professional that operated on a sliding scale, these agencies

would immediately become very cut and dry and bluntly state that my insurance wasn’t covered,” Riddick said. “I

would ask if they could provide resources for low-income folks dealing with mental health issues, and I would be

addressed in a condescending tone, instead of actually receiving help.” SEE DOULAS ON E5

JOSHUA LOTT/THE WASHINGTON POST

‘Loving on me ... not judging me’

Black mothers suffering from postpartum depression find help at a doula collaborative focused on Black families

Symphony Zawadi suffered from postpartum depression and was also transitioning jobs during her 2021 pregancy, leaving

her without health insurance and fearful about cost. She says Maroon Calabash co-founder Lyanne Jordan “was God sent.”

BY MARLENE CIMONS

When Shiri Melumad was working on

her doctorate in 2012, she found herself

reaching for her smartphone during mo-

ments of stress, before a tough exam, for

example. She didn’t always use it, she just

held it. It was comforting.

“Just holding it made me feel good,”

says Melumad, assistant professor of

marketing at the Wharton School of the

University of Pennsylvania, who studies

the relationship between people and

their phones. “It gave me a sense of ease

or calm. It was similar to children who

seek out their pacifiers when they are

stressed. For many of us, our phone

represents an attachment object, much

as a security blanket or teddy bear does

for a child.”

Also — much like children — we

become frantic when our “security blan-

ket” goes missing, a reaction confirmed

by several studies. In 2014, after Melu-

mad accidentally left her phone in a

restaurant, she spent an entire day

searching for it. “I definitely freaked out,”

SEE PHONES ON E4

Smartphones:

The pacifiers

for grown-ups

BY MICHELLE CROUCH

charlotte — The first time 11-year-old

Levi McAllister had a tooth pulled, he

screamed, kicked and struggled so much

that his mom had to hold him down.

So when Levi returned to Charlotte

Pediatric Dentistry in January to get two

more teeth pulled, dental hygienist Barb

Kucera had a surprise for him: a friendly

yellow Labrador retriever named Atkins.

“Would you like Atkins to lie on your

lap?” she asked.

Levi nodded, and Kucera helped At-

kins hop into the dental chair and rest

her head on a pillow on Levi’s chest. As

Levi stroked the soft fur on Atkins’s ears,

the dentist numbed Levi’s mouth and

eased out two of his teeth.

“The dog made me feel happy and

calm,” Levi said.

Across the country, a growing number

of dentists are bringing in four-legged

staff members to reduce stress for both

children and adults — typically at no

additional cost to patients. Dental pa-

tients at a practice in Green Bay, Wis., can

SEE DOGS ON E6

Dentists call

on dogs to ease

patients’ fears

BY RACHEL FAIRBANK

There is perhaps no exercise as feared or

recommended as a burpee. A full burpee

combines a squat, jump-back, plank, push-

up and a jump in the air into one continuous

movement.

“Burpees are a fully functional exercise,”

said Ben Walker, a personal trainer and

owner of Anywhere Fitness, based in Dublin.

Different body parts have to work together,

while also developing a fuller range of

movement. “This promotes better move-

ment and flexibility in our everyday life,”

Walker said.

The burpee was invented in the 1930s by a

physiologist named Royal H. Burpee Sr., as a

way to test a person’s fitness. It was later

adapted by the U.S. Army to evaluate re-

cruits’ fitness levels.

Given how hard each of these separate

exercises can be, combining them into a

single exercise is a tough task, but one that

develops and shows flexibility, and improves

range of motion, strength and cardiovascu-

lar conditioning.

“One of the biggest benefits is that

burpees challenge the cardiovascular sys-

tem as well as the muscular system in one

catchall movement,” said Jacque Crockford,

a personal trainer and senior product man-

ager with the American Council on Exercise.

“When done appropriately, the burpee can

be a high-reward exercise.”

If you’d like to access some of the benefits

of burpees, but don’t know where to start,

these are some ways to safely and gradually

work your way up to doing them.

When it comes to learning to do a full

SEE BURPEES ON E6

How to finally master a burpee

CLIMATE Wildfires last longer as

nights stay warmer and drier. E2

MEDICAL CARE More than half of U.S.

abortions in 2020 were by pills. E3

LIFE CHANGES Why, after 35, sleep,

stress, happiness feel different. E5

PARENTING How to lower the anxiety

of all those decisions parents face. E6