NHS Will Help Tackle Maternal Strain

• comments
• 
• 

Mental health and well-being of women has taken National Health Service's (NHS) attention. It wants to help and tackle maternal strain that post-natal brings about to women.

David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, is eager to support new mothers and pregnant women with their psychological problems related to giving birth. Getting a specialist for this is a revolution in treating and discussing mental illness openly, according to The Guardian.

On Jan. 11, Monday, the prime minister has pledged to end the postcode lottery wherein the third of 40,000 women who experience such conditions like post-natal depression per year only receive treatment that intends to keep families from being torn apart, to protect babies, and to reduce the risk of maternal suicides. He also urges the country to have an honest national debate regarding mental illness, thus to stop sufferers from feeling ashamed of their conditions.

The prime minister adds in his major speech on tackling poverty that mental illness is not contagious; therefore, there is nothing to be afraid of it. His pledge in the expansion of services, especially in line with health, to tackle maternal mental health is important for some 30,000 women to have access to specialist perinatal mental health services as well.

Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS in England, has told The Guardian that "Three out of four are missing out. But by the end of the decade we are going to make that a universal offer, so all 40,000 will get access to a local specialist team."

Stevens also adds that if these perinatal and mental illnesses are left untreated, it can cause a very devastating impact on the women affected, and so do their respective families. "In the UK, mental health in pregnant and postnatal women often goes unrecognised, undiagnosed and untreated," he said.

"If untreated, these perinatal mental illnesses can have a devastating impact on the women affected and their families. In the UK, mental health in pregnant and postnatal women often goes unrecognised, undiagnosed and untreated," it claims.

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA), a coalition of 60 U.K. organizations that work on this issue, has committed to improve the mental health and well-being of every mother in the country. The alliance has seen gaps in the maternal mental health services given by NHS to mothers in Britain.

The alliance also focuses on its campaign to improve the services for women with high risk or already with mental problems during pregnancy or post-natally by promoting awareness, education, as well as action. It has the vision of improving the lives of mothers and their babies.