One in five mothers too scared of losing their child to admit to post-natal blues

♦ Half of new mothers suffer postnatal depression – but many are too scared to seek help for fear their babies will be removed, research by Netmums has found.

Although official figures show around one in 10 women is officially diagnosed with depression after giving birth, the survey of more than 1,000 mothers found the figures are far higher.

Some 73 per cent of women said they had experienced low mood, while nearly one in three said the birth had been so bad they suffered posttraumatic stress disorder.

Nearly one in five kept their problems to themselves over concerns their child would be taken into care.

Anne-marie O’leary, the editor in chief of Netmums, said: ‘It’s shocking, heartbreaking, alarming and just not good enough that so many mums feel that they have to suffer the serious effects of maternal mental health problems alone, without support from their family, friends or from healthcare professionals.”

Dr Alain Gregoire, from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, said: “It is tragic that so few mums feel able to seek professional help to tackle their mental health problems.”

Netmums is launching a social media campaign, #Mumsmatter, to encourage women to share ways of how to combat the blues.