KATE Forbes has revealed her “astonishment” at the lack of understanding of postnatal depression and has suggested that frontline health workers receive top-up training around mental health issues.
The Deputy First Minister, who has spoken out in the past about her own experience of the illness, said she was “astonished” by how little resource and research there is into pregnancy and women’s health issues.
Talking on the Speaking of Suicide podcast, the SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch suggested that frontline health workers like midwives could receive additional training on how to support the mental health of mothers.
Forbes, who gave birth to her daughter Naomi in August 2022, didn’t realise she was suffering from the condition until her husband, Ali MacLennan, read out a checklist of postnatal depression symptoms - at which point her midwife intervened.
The politician spoke candidly about her own experience and expressed that despite it not being that long ago the illness would be dismissed as “baby blues”, there is still a lot of work to be done around recognising and treating women's health issues.
She said: “I am still astonished by the lack of understanding of an issue that affects so many people.
“I’m genuinely astonished by how little resource and research there is into pregnancy and women’s health issues in and around pregnancy, considering the impact it has on thousands and thousands of women.
“It wasn’t that many years ago that it would have been dismissed as the baby blues.
“For some women, it comes and goes, it’s a day of emotional challenge and for some women, it descends very rapidly into something extremely serious.
“I have to commend NHS Highland, the midwives and the doctors - they really couldn’t have done more and I think that is rare based on what other women have shared with me.”
According to the NHS, postnatal depression affects one in 10 women within a year of giving birth.
Forbes (below) said she wanted to speak about her experience on the podcast because of the number of women going through the same thing and “the number who don't get help and where that leads them”.
She said a cultural change was needed around women’s health issues and that included a reform to services from her own government.
Scotland’s healthcare watchdog released new guidelines for perinatal mental health in over a decade back in May.
Developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) the guidelines included versions for patients and healthcare professionals to reduce stigma around the issues and improve care.
Forbes proposed that more can be done as she said: “We have been on a journey in terms of the funding invested and the recruitment required but I also think there’s something there about making every issue also a little bit about mental health.
“A midwife is trained in delivering a baby, not necessarily trained in supporting the mental health of the mother, but she’s probably also best placed to support the mental health of the mother in the immediate aftermath of giving birth and looking for signs.”
She also suggested fresh training for frontline workers to be able to support new mothers.
“This is a principle that’s applicable - if you’ve been through cancer diagnosis, who supports you with the mental health impact? If you’ve been through a bereavement, who is the first point of contact to support you on the mental health side?
“There is something there about top up training for the frontline workers who will support you on the substance of the issue and then help you deal with the aftermath of the issue.”
