Duchess shows sympathy for plight of mothers
THE DUCHESS of Cambridge has sympathised with the mental health plight faced by many mothers, saying how generally they were supposed to be “super happy” but one in four were not.
Kate’s comment came as she visited a leading NHS mother and baby unit in London that treats women with serious psychological issues including those threatening suicide.
Speaking during a visit to the department at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham, she told a psychiatrists, midwives and health visitors specialising in treating mothers with mental health issues, that “particularly as a mother, there’s an expectation to be super happy all the time and one in four of us aren’t”.
As a mother of two young children, and six months pregnant with her third child, the Duchess has developed a passion for understanding the issues surrounding mental health. Earlier Kate
There’s an expectation to be super happy all the time. The Duchess of Cambridge on expectations placed on mothers.
visited King’s College London to hear about the work developing treatments for conditions like Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and epilepsy.
Meanwhile, the Duchess of Cornwall saw how the lives of women inmates are being transformed as she visited a Cheshire prison and its highly-rated restaurant. Avid reader Camilla, patron of The National Literary Trust, learned how the organisation’s Books Unlocked programme was helping prisoners improve literacy skills. The Duchess met prisoners working at The Clink restaurant, next to HMP Styal, where women with less than 18 months to serve are given the chance to earn City & Guilds NVQ qualifications in food service and food preparation. Before Camilla left the prison, the Prince of Wales briefly popped into The Clink after earlier visiting the Quarry Bank National Trust site in Styal.