Essex therapist calls for more NHS funding to help mums struggling with perinatal depression
Demand for services has skyrocketed
A charity which helps people struggling with pre and post natal mental health issues says demand for its services has gone through the roof since the pandemic.
PANDAS Foundation says demand for its services is now 70% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Psychotherapist Laura Butler, from Chelmsford says she's also had more people looking for help: "There's definitely been a huge increase in referrals since the pandemic. Unfortunately, NHS waiting times are still really long, so we're also getting a huge amount of referrals because of that.
"People are either paying privately for therapy whilst they wait on the NHS waiting list or are actually completing therapy with us rather than staying on the waiting list and risking things getting worse."
The charity suggests this rise in demand is, in part, due to people being unable to access NHS support - currently it’s recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) that people referred for psychological intervention begin treatment within 6 weeks, but PANDAS’ study shows one in five (20%) who first sought NHS support during 2020 and 2021 are still waiting to receive treatment.
Laura says the impact not receiving treatment early on can be catastrophic: "The impact is huge.
"Obviously the impact upon mum is that it can worsen and massively impact their life enjoyment, and a really precious time with their baby, which can then cause further issues later on down the line.
"For babies, there've been a number of studies that have shown a link between maternal depression and delayed cognitive and language development, as well as disorganised or insecure attachment with the baby.
"There's also a wider impact on relationships with partners and friendships, family and work."
She says perinatal depression is an issue that affects many people, but isn’t discussed enough: "I'm a mum myself and it's really hard. I think if we can just be honest about that and actually admit it's really hard, what I've noticed is the more I've opened up about that, the more people open up to me.
"That then normalises and validates that is ok to find it hard, which in itself makes it a lot easier."
The psychotherapist from Chelmsford says the NHS needs more funding to deal with the issue: "There needs to be so much more funding put into the NHS mental health services, particularly post pandemic because everyone's mental health has been affected in some way.
"Particularly for mums, it has such a big impact on them, their wider family and friends, work and the baby that it's so important that funding is put in to ensure there are more therapists available, to enable to waiting lists to go down and to provide more options for treatment."