“There is little hope for New Zealand’s children if the Advertising Standards Authority won’t let us have honest conversations about maternal mental health,” says ACT’s Children’s Spokesperson Karen Chhour in response to the Advertising Standards Authority banning the Mothers Matter ad campaign.

“We have a maternal suicide rate five times worse than the UK, we have mothers kicked out of hospital hours after giving birth without knowing their rights, and it all depends which DHB they’re in.

“It’s bad enough that the Government has ignored the Mothers’ Matter campaign, now the ASA is telling the public they have to ignore it, too.

“We need honest conversations about the real challenges our country faces. If maternal mental health and its impacts on children aren’t worth an honest conversation, what is?

“I heard someone say, ‘this is meant to be an age of enlightenment, but you have to walk on eggshells with everything you say,’ too many people are afraid to speak their mind and the Advertising Standards Authority just added to the problem.

“The ad was a highly professional, careful and tasteful portrayal of a difficult topic that we need to be discussed. If that kind of conversation is not allowed, we will never make progress as a country.

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