Postnatal mental health services are closing across the country due to a lack of funding despite record numbers of women seeking help, The Independent can reveal.
One in five of the 600,000 women a year who give birth in the UK experience a mental health condition, NHS figures show – and a quarter have a negative birth experience.
Mental health conditions are the leading cause of maternal death between six weeks and a year after birth – accounting for one in three deaths, according to the Oxford University-led group MBBRACE-UK, which records all maternal and baby deaths in the UK.
Postnatal suicide rates rose by more than 50 per cent during the pandemic and have remained high ever since. Between 2017 and 2019, the rate of suicide was 0.46 for every 100,000 mothers who gave birth in that period, but between 2021 and 2023 - the latest figures available - the rate was 0.70 per 100,000 mothers.
Although a record 57,000 new and expectant mothers accessed NHS mental health services in 2023 - up a third on the previous year – there remains a postcode lottery in access to NHS treatment. Some women wait up to six months for assessment and up to a year for treatment, a report by Maternal Mental Health Alliance found last year.
But in January, the Government announced it was scrapping funding for the nationwide rollout of Women’s Health Hubs, which aimed to improve access to services such as perinatal mental health support.
“This is a completely neglected mental health crisis, on an extremely large scale,” Danny Chambers MP, the Lib Dem spokesperson on mental health, warned Parliament in February.
And now several charities which plug the gaps in NHS support, by helping parents unable to access NHS help or who are stuck on waiting lists, have been forced to close or suspend services because of funding cuts.
Charity directors have warned funding for maternal support has been “deprioritised”, particularly in recent years as competition for grants has become increasingly competitive.
One charity director was even told by a funding board member: “Mothers will never be the priority”.
Charities which have closed include Bluebell Care Trust, which ran perinatal support services for thousands of mothers and fathers in Bristol, Bath, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Devon - many of whom were referred directly by NHS services. It went into liquidation in late 2023, with its latest accounts showing a £52,000 shortfall in funds.
Maggie Gordon-Walker is the founder of the Sussex-based charity Mothers Uncovered. It supports mothers from all walks of life, including those with birth trauma who typically face waits of more than a year for a birth debrief on the NHS. But last year it had to pause its support groups after losing funding.
The charity applied to around 50 funding schemes but only received contributions from a handful. “Sadly, mothers are rarely seen as worth funding – they’re not a priority. We often only get funding for our young mothers group because they are still considered ‘children’,” MS Gordon-Walker said.
The weekly support group run by Motherly Love, based in Leytonstone, East London, also had to close earlier this year because it could no longer afford its annual £5,000 running costs.
It has supported more than 200 women since it was set up eight years ago by mothers Gemma Capocci and Milli Richards, who both struggled with their postnatal mental health and wanted to prevent other women going through the same.
They have applied for five or six local authority grants but were rejected from all.
Ms Richards said: “When you support a mum you don’t just change their lives, you change the lives of their children, their partner, you enable them to care for other people – it has a huge reach.”
Ms Capocci added: “I think some people see these groups as just a ‘nice coffee morning’ for mothers, when actually we’re helping women get referred to mental health support, we’re supporting those waiting for treatment – we have worked with women who say we have literally saved their lives.”
Groups such as Motherly Love feel the system is stacked against them. Often run by mothers on a voluntary basis, they struggle to complete time-consuming grant applications while balancing their volunteer work alongside caring for their own families and holding down jobs.
But without them, there is no support for mothers like Anna, who tried to end her life a year after her daughter was born, and was afraid to ask professionals for help. “I loved my daughter but I was absolutely miserable. I felt so lonely, isolated and I didn't see any way out,” she said.
“I was terrified that someone would take my baby away from me if I reached out,” she said. She believes having regular contact with support workers would have helped.
“If I had a check-up scheduled in the diary with someone who could have gently approached the topic of postnatal depression, that could have saved me,” she added.
Labour MP Laura Kyrke-Smith lost her friend Sophie to postnatal suicide and led a debate on maternal mental health in Westminster Hall. She said: “Since losing my friend Sophie to suicide, I have become aware of how prevalent maternal mental health challenges are, but how little attention they get.”
She added the Government was actively working on suicide prevention “but there is always more to do”.
“The Government have embarked on transformative work to improve the country’s health, and achieving better maternal mental health outcomes must be part of that plan,” she said.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Too many women are not receiving the safe, compassionate and personalised maternity and postnatal care they deserve.
“Through our Plan for Change we are driving up standards, training thousands more midwives and maternal mental health workers, and we have made available specialist community perinatal mental services in all areas of England.
“We are also investing £126 million in family hubs and Start for Life services – which include mental health support - to help parents through pregnancy to early childhood.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
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