One Third of Mothers Experience Mental Health Issues
Yes you read that correctly one third of mothers experience some form of mental health issue. This can be things like anxiety and depression to even more complex issues like post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to the same YouGov survey 17% of fathers also experience some kind of mental health issue.
Online forums for support seems popular within this survey. However, far too many women are reporting that they were not given any real support going through their issues. Indeed, in some cases, the symptoms were discounted as simply being normal after birth emotions.
Our children need the best possible start in life and that means that our mothers and yes our fathers need to be fit and emotionally healthy to make this a reality. It is a shame that even with greater mental health awareness not enough is being done to aid new mothers when it comes to the mental health issues which can occur during and after birth.
Perception of the mother can add to these difficulties. For many women, and I would argue men as well, they see the birth and parenting thing as easy so when they struggle they may well feel inadequate and odd. It is important for the medical community to understand that not everyone will find this experience easy and that mental health support should be a matter of routine for new mothers and fathers rather than the exception to the rule.
