Everyone’s Business

More than 1 in 10 women develop a mental illness during pregnancy or within the first year after having a baby. If untreated, these perinatal mental illnesses can have a devastating impact on the women affected and their families. In the UK, mental illness in pregnant and postnatal women often goes unrecognised, undiagnosed and untreated.

Our map  source - everyone's business.org.uk shows just how patchy the current provision of services is. This means a postcode lottery determines whether women receive the care they need or not.

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance’s new campaign – Everyone’s Business – calls for all women throughout the UK who experience perinatal mental health problems to receive the care they and their families need, wherever and whenever they need it.

We must ACT

To make sure women receive the perinatal mental health care they need, we must ensure the following:

• Accountability for perinatal mental health care is clearly set at a national level and complied with.
• Community specialist perinatal mental health services meeting national quality standards are available for women in every area of the UK.
• Training in perinatal mental health is delivered to all professionals involved in the care of women during pregnancy and the first year after birth.