Healthwatch Dorset is concerned that six-week postnatal checks are failing many new mothers.

As part of their review of maternal mental health care, Healthwatch England has analysed experiences of pregnancy and post-natal care since April 2020, shared by 2,693 new mothers and birthing parents from across England, including 43 responses from Dorset residents.

The analysis suggests that not all GP practices comply with the requirement to provide six to eight-week postnatal checks. And where those checks take place, it is not clear that GP practices are aware of NICE guidance which tells them in detail how to spot mental health problems and provide help.

Healthwatch is now calling for improved consistency of postnatal six-week checks, monitoring of their delivery, and boosting support for GPs to provide quality mental health care for new mothers.

In April 2020, the Government introduced the six to eight-week postnatal check after Healthwatch England shared the experiences of almost 1,800 women on mental health during their journey to parenthood.

General practitioners in England have since been contractually obliged and paid to assess new mothers’ mental health and wellbeing, providing an opportunity for referral to specialist services and additional support. Crucially, the checks must take place separately from a postnatal check focused on the health of the baby.

Healthwatch England undertook this research between October and December of 2022 to find out to what extent mental health support has improved during and after pregnancy.

Their analysis also found the following:

• Two-thirds, 1800, of the women and birthing parents who shared their experiences had struggled with their mental health during and after pregnancy.
• Nearly half of those received no support to help with their mental health during and post-pregnancy.
• Delays in accessing mental health support can have a devastating impact on new parents, with some reporting they had struggled to leave the house, bond with their child and maintain relationships.
• First-time mothers are particularly vulnerable to developing mental health problems and are less likely to access timely care.

One Dorset resident said: “Nobody did any kind of mood questionnaire etc. I had quite severe postnatal anxiety and OCD and it wasn’t picked up by any professionals. Eventually at around 12 weeks I reached a kind of crisis point and called the GP and asked to be put on anti-depressants and asked to be referred to the perinatal mental health team. After that things started improving but I still resent that I had to advocate for myself to sort things out, it could’ve been sorted earlier and I might not have got so unwell.”