Mental health problems ‘are biggest killer of new mothers’

MENTAL health problems are the biggest killer of new mothers, a report warns.

Suicide and deaths caused by drink and drug abuse claim more lives than cancer, heart problems or blood poisoning.

A total of women – from all backgrounds and income levels – died from mental health conditions in the threeyear period to 2013.

But Oxford researchers say this number could be halved if midwives, GPs and hospital doctors were more alert to postnatal warning signs and communicated with each other.

Figures show that around a quarter of women suffer from postnatal depression, with the most severe cases involving taking their own lives or turning to drink or drugs.

The analysts looked at deaths among new mothers from all causes between 2011 and 2013 in England and Wales. They discovered that although those caused by pregnancy complications had fallen dramatically, in recent years, deaths from mental health conditions had remained the same.

They also found that some women saw different GPs, midwives and A&E doctors who failed to confer with each other or realise the extent of their condition.

Professor Marian Knight, of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, urged family members and GPs to be on the alert for women suddenly feeling estranged from their babies or feeling very depressed.

She said: ‘Although severe maternal mental illness is uncommon, it can develop very quickly... and the woman, her family and mainstream mental health services may not recognise this or move fast enough to take action.’

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