The hot topic for the September 2015 MIDIRS Midwifery Digest issue is “Maternal mental health – everyone’s business”, highlighting crucial statistics of pregnant women’s mental health and a campaign to encourage more women and midwives to talk about it. According to research, more than 1 in 10 women will experience a mental illness during pregnancy or within the postnatal period. Various campaigns across the UK are now addressing the subject of maternal mental health and offering advice to midwives on how to assist pregnant women regarding the sensitive subject. Maternal mental health – everyone’s business by Maria Bavetta Introduction The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA), founded in 2010, is a coalition of nearly 80 national professional and patient-led organisations committed to improving the mental health and well-being of women and their children, in pregnancy and the first postnatal year. Although in the past 20 years there has been increased interest in perinatal mental health research, and individual examples of excellent models of care existed prior to the formation of the MMHA, the availability of perinatal mental health services across the United Kingdom (UK) has not improved for all British women. There exists a ‘postcode lottery’ in which equitable access to services is being denied to many of the women who need it. MMHA members remain committed to collectively attempting to change this, in part through the MMHA’s ‘Everyone’s Business’ campaign. Impact In the UK, mental illness in pregnant and postnatal women often goes unrecognised, undiagnosed and untreated. When untreated, perinatal […]
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