Informing Perinatal Mental Health Services
INDIVIDUAL
Fear of Judgement
Fear of judgement from others is another barrier to women deciding to seek help or disclosing symptoms, and to implementing and delivering care successfully.
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Fear of being seen as a bad mum.
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Fear of social services.
Fear of being seen as a bad mum
The fear of being seen as a bad mum can act as a barrier to perinatal mental health care.
"With my health visitor, I try not to let too much out, because then she won’t think I am a bad mum".
Evidence level: Moderate
Parts of the care pathway affected: Deciding to consult, Deciding to disclose.
Key literature:
Fear of social services
Fear of social services involvement can act as a barrier to perinatal mental health care.
"I didn’t want anyone’s help to be honest after I had [my previous child]. I was so frightened that people would think I couldn’t cope and take her off me."
Evidence level: High
Parts of the care pathway affected: Deciding to consult, Deciding to disclose.
Key literature:
Recommendations
We recommend the development an NHS Mental Health Campaign focused on stigma reduction of perinatal mental illness.
We recommend the development of information aimed at increasing awareness of perinatal mental illness such as (1) infographics/leaflets disseminated through maternity services, primary care, third sector organisations (e.g. NCT), and antenatal classes (2) short animations & videos disseminated via social media on:
Symptoms of different PMI.
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How they are common, and when to seek help.
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Causes.
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How to access professional support.
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Services available.
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Maternity professionals and their role in PMH care.
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Myth busters on social services:
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For example, an analysis of reasons child protection plans were put in place in England in 2019 shows the most common reason was abuse or neglect (54.4%). Parent’s disability or illness only counted for 2.5% of referrals.
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