Advocacy Group Concerned Mothers Will Be Missed

Advocacy Group Concerned Mothers Will Be Missed in Mental Health Reform

Mental Health Recommendations Misses Mums

Mums' Mental Health is Being Neglected Says Advocacy Group

With the Government set to announce their response to the Mental Health Report this month, Maternal Care Action Group spokesperson Kristina Paterson has expressed her concerns that the Mental Health Report has not gone far enough to acknowledge the large gaps experienced by New Zealand mothers with depression/anxiety: "Approximately 11,000 women experience perinatal* depression every year in New Zealand and two thirds of them will experience delays in diagnosis and treatment. This was not specifically acknowledged in the report, and the recommendations made by Maternal Care Action Group to address this were not mentioned at all."

Paterson says that perinatal depression is most likely to occur while mum is under the care of a midwife, but research has shown that midwives' knowledge on perinatal depression is lacking and they are not screening the mothers in their care for depression or anxiety: "We are scratching our head and wondering what to do with New Zealand's high youth suicide rate and the increasing rates of children presenting with anxiety, but we are completely neglecting the mental health of mothers during pregnancy and after the birth of their baby."

Paterson explains that babies that are carried or born to women with undiagnosed/untreated perinatal depression are at higher risk of developing cognitive, emotional and behavioural issues later in life. They are at increased risk of developing learning difficulties, delinquency, mental health issues and suicide.

Paterson presented a petition to parliament on Mother's Day in 2017 that was received by (now Prime Minister) Jacinda Ardern and (now Minister of Health) David Clark. That Spring, prior to the election, representatives from Labour, NZ First, Greens and the Maori Party attended an event where 8,000 flowers were planted in a community garden to represent the number of women that went undiagnosed and untreated every year.

"The Government acknowledges that early intervention is the best course of action to achieve the best outcomes - then we need to make sure that our primary and secondary mental health services are not failing to screen, diagnose and treat women for depression or anxiety during pregnancy and after baby's born.

"Suicide is the leading cause of maternal deaths in New Zealand, yet we're not screening for it. We need to make PND training and screening a mandatory part of midwives' practice, and we need to be providing funded talk therapy services to mothers."

Minister of Health David Clark has said that the Government will issue their response to the Mental Health Report this month.

ENDS

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