Postnatal depression rates soar
Isolation and Covid-related fears have caused postnatal depression rates to soar, leaving underfunded services struggling to meet demand, experts say.
They’re worried about the ‘‘very dire’’ state of maternal mental health, warning women are reaching the brink of suicide before receiving help.
Auckland mum Karen Fourie, 34, found out she was pregnant at the beginning of 2020. She hoped it would be a ‘‘beautiful, lifechanging time’’.
Unfortunately, the reality was different. Fear of Covid-19 stopped her from leaving the house, and she developed perinatal anxiety. ‘‘It was like sitting in a dark room with walls closing on you.’’
When the Pukekohe woman’s son Owen was born, the anxiety turned into depression.
‘‘I felt scared of Owen. His crying made me panic, and I felt overwhelmed not knowing what task to start and how to deal with it.’’
Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Aotearoa, a charity that provides training for healthcare providers, said maternal mental health was in a ‘‘very dire’’ state.
‘‘At Waitematā DHB there are 600 clients suffering from mildmoderate [perinatal distress] who can’t access services – 400 referrals went through to adult mental health services.
‘‘With these extended wait lists, women are denied access to services until they become more unwell. Sometimes it is only when a mum feels suicidal that she will be admitted and receive the help she requires.’’
Waitematā DHB said risk of suicide was not a criteria to receive care for maternal mental health.
Auckland District Health Board mental health and addictions co-director Tracy Silva-Garay also said women did not need to be suicidal to meet the criteria to access the maternal mental health service.
In the Auckland District Health Board area, in 2020, 593 women were referred for maternal mental heath. This increased to 739 in 2021.
After suffering postnatal depression with her first child, Riverhead woman Jennifer Watson, 36, was prepared for it to happen again.
When she began experiencing antenatal depression she tried to seek help but her midwife told her that unless she was suicidal. support was unlikely, she said. ‘‘I wasn’t at that stage, but I was getting to that point,’’ she said.
Watson said she believed her midwife referred her to North Shore Hospital’s maternal mental health service but she did not hear back and never received help.
Waitematā DHB said it did not receive this referral.
When Watson’s son Luca was born the postnatal depression reemerged, and Watson said suicidal thoughts crept back in.
‘‘I hated being a mother, I hated every minute of it, it was horrible,’’ she said. ‘‘It was a haze, I couldn’t be happy for anything. [I was] really quick to anger and not feeling like myself at all, just grey and foggy all the time.’’
Six months on, Watson said,
she still had not received the support she needed. She turned to Mothers Helpers, an Auckland service for people at risk of, or suffering from postnatal depression.
Mothers Helpers founder Kristina Paterson said more women than ever were seeking help.
Between 2020 and 2021, nearly 450 women were referred to the service, almost twice as many as the previous year.
By the end of the 2022 financial year, more than 600 women had been referred.
Paterson said those referrals did not cover even one-eighth of the actual need, and more funding was required to address gaps.
‘‘Maternal mental health in New Zealand has been neglected for a very long time.
‘‘It has been lost under other mental health priorities and the voices of women have been unheard for decades.’’
WHERE TO GET HELP 1737, Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor. Mental Health Foundation 09 623 4812. thelowdown.co.nz Web chat, email chat or free text 5626. In a life-threatening situation, call 111.