When will we take maternal mental health seriously?

I realise how privileged we are to have been able to afford this and for many, accessing private maternity support is simply out of the question. One of my friends recently gave birth to her second child and during her post-natal six-week check with a nurse (ie. a vital moment to spot signs of post-natal depression or anxiety) she wasn’t looked at in the eye once. Instead, she told me the nurse simply ran through a checklist from the screen and she was out of the door in three minutes flat.

Noor Mubarak, psychological wellbeing practitioner & perinatal mental health specialist at Private Therapy Clinic tells GLAMOUR:

“The perinatal period can often also be heavily revolved around physical recovery, particularly after a difficult birth, as medical professionals may be focused on ensuring any physical injuries are recovering well. This may mean that appointments revolving around physical health can overshadow conversations about mental health. Difficult or traumatic births can increase the likelihood of a postpartum mental health problem, so if anything, it’s even more important to also be looking out for signs of low mood, excessive worry and other mental health problems following a complex birth.”

She adds: “While some healthcare services will screen for symptoms of mental health problems in perinatal appointments, not all do. It’s important therefore to speak out about these symptoms even if you are not directly asked about them – a lack of training or confidence may prevent a professional from asking about these symptoms, so you may need to open up this aspect of the conversation yourself.”

For me, the biggest issue is that the post-natal care is practically non-existent at the moment and this is why so many cases of anxiety and depression among new mothers are being missed.

The NHS should send over a midwife within 24 hours of you getting home from hospital but then the visits after that seem hit and miss. According to the NHS website, “Midwives will agree a plan with you for visits at home or at a children’s centre until your baby is around 10 days old. This is to check that you and your baby are well and support you in these first few days.” In other words, you get 10 days of support (that’s not even two weeks) and then, mama, you’re on your own.

To make matters worse, because of the lack of community midwives, many new parents are asked to travel to a local children’s centre for their checks (FYI mine was 25-minute drive away too). With a newborn just a few days old, leaving the house is probably one of the most daunting and terrifying things. They cry, you can’t move properly, you’re still bleeding, you haven’t had any time to work out how to breastfeed in public yet. Quite frankly, just getting there is enough to tip you over the edge. And then, as you step inside and see yet another new face in a clinical, unhomely setting, you’re expected to open up about how you’re feeling. Of course, mothers’ are not.