Report by Hope and Care – 16 December 2020
What are mothers mental health needs in the time before and after having a baby ? How can services meet those needs ?
You can read a summary of report below or scroll to the bottom to download the full report.
When a baby is born it is usually a joyful event. However a national survey by the National Childbirth Trust showed that 50% of new mothers felt they had a mental or emotional health problem and 42% of those did not seek help from a health professional.
Through previous community engagement the Healthwatch Wokingham team were aware that mental health support for new parents does not always meet the needs of the local population.
What we did
Designed and circulated a survey using social media and community-based partners. We also went into the community and spoke to various mother and baby groups to gather their experiences and provide an insight into the current provision and understand more about how having a baby can affect parent’s mental health.
We made four recommendations around:
More targeted help for families who have experienced a traumatic event
Facilitated mental health peer support
Increased availability of breast feeding support
Face to face counselling and access to the perinatal mental health team