Maternal Mental Health — [Mr Laurence Robertson in the Chair]

It is unacceptable that many women feel they have to suffer in silence after giving birth. The Government must take action to ensure all areas of the country have adequate mental health services for new mothers.

Ms Mackrory highlighted the impact of the pandemic on new mothers, citing a study that found over half of new mothers reported feeling down, lonely or irritable and 71% felt worried during lockdown. She discussed improvements in visiting arrangements at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust but noted challenges for rural mothers due to transportation issues and lower income levels. Ms Mackrory shared her personal experience with postnatal depression and emphasised the importance of peer support for new mums.

The MP highlighted the exacerbated issues affecting maternal mental health during the pandemic, emphasising that one in five women who give birth experience some form of mental health issue. She stressed the importance of a supportive system for new mothers and called for robust, integrated physical and mental healthcare.

I am concerned about the high number of suicides among new mothers, and I urge the Government to improve mental health support for women during pregnancy and after childbirth.

The chair thanked Dr Lisa Cameron for her contribution and introduced Jim Shannon. As a grandfather, Edward Leigh noted that the debate had been interesting.

She highlighted the prevalence of maternal mental health problems, exacerbated by the pandemic. One in five women develop a mental health issue during pregnancy or within a year after childbirth. She shared her personal experience with prenatal depression and the challenges faced due to lockdown restrictions, such as missing appointments and support bubble limitations. She cited statistics from Nina's story, indicating that restrictive rules made labour particularly challenging for many mothers. She stressed the need for more funding to help health visitors catch up on missed face-to-face appointments and suggested urgent sector-specific grant funding for early years providers to maintain service viability.

The MP spoke about the difficulties faced by parents during lockdown, including isolation from support networks like mums or toddler groups. He mentioned personal experiences of his aide Naomi, who felt guilty for working full-time and missing out on her children's early years due to pandemic restrictions. He supported his colleague Gavin Robinson's early-day motion, emphasising the importance of giving parents the support they need during challenging times.

I reminded hon. Members about changes to normal practice in order to support hybrid arrangements, noting timing adjustments for debates and the requirement for members to remain throughout the debate.

As a clinical psychologist, she thanked Sarah Olney for initiating the debate and highlighted the critical issues around maternal mental health exacerbated by the pandemic. She mentioned that one in five women experience mental health problems during pregnancy or postnatally, with isolation and loneliness increasing significantly during lockdowns.

Mrs Liz Twist highlighted the challenges faced by mothers during pregnancy and post-birth, particularly exacerbated by the pandemic's social isolation. She cited statistics from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists indicating that up to one in five women develop mental health issues during or after childbirth, with around a quarter of maternal deaths linked to these conditions.

Maria Miller highlighted the challenges faced by women giving birth during the pandemic, noting that around one in five women experience perinatal mental health problems. She pointed out that anxiety and depression among pregnant women have increased significantly, with up to 40% experiencing depression. Maria also mentioned the worrying trend of job losses for pregnant women due to discrimination, estimating that over 50,000 lose their jobs annually.

Ms Mary Foy discussed the impact of the pandemic on new mothers' mental health, noting that more than 90% of parents receiving neonatal care reported feeling isolated and 70% experienced negative impacts on their mental health. She emphasised the importance of maternal support for early child development, citing concerns about widening health inequalities in deprived regions.

We need better data on maternal mental health across all regions in Northern Ireland, as currently there are significant gaps that prevent us from understanding the full scope of issues faced by new mothers.

Asked for a call for evidence to gather data on women's experiences in the workplace, including pregnancy and health issues.

Ms Rosena Allin-Khan highlighted the urgency of addressing maternal mental health, expressing concern about the high rates of maternal suicide and inequalities in maternity outcomes for ethnic minority women. She questioned the Government's failure to meet targets for specialist perinatal mental health care and requested updates on training initiatives impacted by the pandemic.

He highlighted the importance of maternal mental health during the pandemic, citing 11,265 responses to a survey about parental isolation and loneliness. He mentioned the shortage of health visitors as a false economy and cited a £8.1 billion annual cost of perinatal mental illness from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance. Loughton also discussed increased domestic abuse during pregnancy and the need for specialized parent-infant relationship teams across the UK. Mentioned the importance of the early years review and highlighted the work of Andrea Leadsom.