Today marks the start of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, this week long campaign running from 5 to 11 May is dedicated to talking about mental health problems before, during and after pregnancy.
The aim of the week is to raise public and professional awareness of maternal mental health problems, advocate for women and families who have been impacted, change attitudes and help people access information, care and support to help them recover.
Research from the Perinatal Mental Health Partnership has found that 1 in 5 women experience a perinatal mental health issue with 70% of those affected concealing or downplaying their difficulties.
Anyone can be affected but certain factors elevate the risk of vulnerability to mental health challenges including, having a history of mental health problems, neurodiversity, multiple pregnancies, lack of support, domestic abuse, financial instability and insecure housing. Along with difficult childhood experiences, traumatic life events, birth trauma and baby loss.
Women can experience any kind of mental health problems during and after pregnancy, but there are some that specifically linked to pregnancy and childbirth. These include perinatal depression, perinatal anxiety, perinatal OCD, postpartum psychosis and postpartum PTSD.
Stef Maudsley, Consultant Nurse, Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service explains:
"As a team we see many pregnant or new mums with mental health challenges feeling like they aren’t good enough, that they should be grateful, be having the best time, and experiencing shame that they are finding it hard to cope or bond with their baby. Adjusting to being a new parent is hard, life changes completely and it can feel overwhelming with many added challenges like feeding and lack of sleep.
There are red flag signs which you may recognise in yourself or a loved one, which may point to being overwhelmed and needing some extra support quickly.”
It is important to recognise the signs and know that it is okay to speak up and ask for help.
- Do you have new feelings or thoughts that you have never had before, which make you disturbed or anxious?
- Are you experiencing thoughts of suicide or harming yourself in violent ways?
- Are you struggling to sleep?
- Are you feeling incompetent, as though you can’t cope, or estranged from your baby? Are these feelings persistent or do you feel you are getting worse?
If you are experiencing any of the above or something doesn’t feel right, seek help. Speak up and speak up repeatedly. You can speak to your GP, health visitor, mental health team or midwife. For urgent mental health support contact NHS 111 online or by calling NHS 111 and selecting the mental health option.
Throughout the week we will be sharing inspiring stories of recovery, answering your questions, sharing insights into our different teams, providing maternity leave budget advice and much more. Keep checking our news section and social media channels for updates.
