Released on: 28 November 2016
In response to NHS England’s plan to improve mental health care for pregnant women and new mums, Elizabeth Duff, Senior Policy Adviser, NCT, said:
“Families who have been devastated by a new mother’s mental illness will be heartened by the news that more support is going to be available. NCT commends this positive plan.
“However there are nearly 150,000 women in the UK each year who suffer from mental health problems postnatally or when pregnant and the funding aims to reach 30,000 women in 20 areas so there’s still a long way to go. Our research in 2014 found that only 3% of CCGs had a perinatal mental health strategy.
“We’re particularly pleased to see plans to enable mums who have experienced similar issues to help others. Peer support can be a really powerful way to further break the stigma around perinatal mental health.”