The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is marking Maternal Mental Health Week by urging faster action to improve mental health support while they are pregnant and in the months after birth.
Six months ago, the RCM launched its Perinatal Mental Health Roadmap – a resource which is helping shape policy conversations and strengthening calls for urgent action to tackle the postcode lottery in services.
The roadmap sets out practical recommendations to improve access to specialist perinatal mental health care, strengthen workforce knowledge and confidence and ensure women receive personalised care wherever they live.
Since then, the roadmap has informed the RCM’s policy and parliamentary influencing work, including engagement around the Perinatal Mental Health Assessments Bill, also known as Sophie’s Law, and was directly referenced in Parliament during debate.
The RCM says this growing political attention underlines the urgent need for action, with persistent inequalities during pregnancy compounded by a marked drop in support in the postnatal period.
Lia Brigante, Professional Policy Advisor at the RCM, said: “Maternal mental health matters before, during and after birth, and every woman should be able to access the support she needs wherever she lives. As the leading cause of late maternal death, we need urgent action to save lives and provide help for women.
“Our roadmap has been designed to drive change and we’re encouraged to see it helping to shape important policy discussions and inform debate at the highest levels.
“But we know there is more to do. Too many women still face a postcode lottery in access to specialist support, particularly in the postnatal period. Maternity staff need the training, time and resources to deliver the high-quality care women deserve. Maternal Mental Health Week is an important moment to renew that call for action.”
Aimed at midwifery and healthcare leaders and all those working in healthcare planning, the roadmap outlines a series of steps governments across the four nations need to take.
The roadmap calls for action to improve perinatal mental health care across the UK, including:
- More specialist midwives trained in perinatal mental health, so every woman can access to the right support wherever she lives;
- Stronger leadership roles for midwives within the NHS, ensuring women’s mental health is a priority in maternity care;
- Regular training for all midwives in trauma-informed care, so women are consistently treated with compassion and sensitivity;
- Joined-up, culturally sensitive services, that meet the needs of women from all backgrounds;
- Equal focus on mental and physical health during pregnancy and the postnatal period, so women are not left to struggle in silence
The roadmap aligns with the RCM’s wider calls through its Safe Staffing = Safe Care campaign for investment in maternity services, workforce planning and culturally competent care that improves outcomes for women, babies and families.
During Maternal Mental Health Week, the RCM is encouraging policymakers, employers and maternity professionals to continue using the roadmap to help drive improvements and ensure no woman is left without support.
For more information about the RCM’s Perinatal Mental Health Roadmap, visit rcm.org.uk/perinatal-mental-health
- Maternal Mental Health Week, organised by Maternal Mental Health Alliance, takes place from 4-10 May. This year’s theme is ‘A decade of voices’.
Read more: Royal College of Midwives warns postcode lottery is putting mothers’ mental health at risk
