Postnatal depression

Explains postnatal depression and other perinatal mental health problems, including possible causes, treatments and support options. Also has information for friends and family, including support and advice for partners.

Being pregnant is a big life event and it is natural to feel a lot of different emotions. But if you’re feeling sad and it’s starting to affect your life, there are things you can try that may help.

Although it’s normal to have periods of worry and stress when you’re pregnant, some women have feelings that don’t go away and this can be a sign of something more serious.

Did you know that approximately 1 in 5 women will suffer from perinatal mental illnesses (PMI) during their pregnancy or in the year after the birth of their child?

This period of pregnancy and up to a year after birth is called perinatal. Medical professionals therefore call any mental illness that you might suffer from, during this period, a perinatal mental illness or PMI, and it can include things such as postnatal depression and anxiety. If these mental health illnesses go untreated they can have a huge effect on the woman, their baby and their wider support network including their partner, family and friends.

We are the professional membership body for family doctors in the UK and overseas. We are committed to improving patient care, clinical standards and GP training.

The perinatal period is a time of significant risk to women’s mental health, with up to two in ten women suffering some form of mental health difficulty.

From early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, Centre for Mental Health and Maternal Mental Health Alliance were concerned about the likely increased mental health challenges that women in pregnancy and early motherhood were facing as a result of the pandemic and the restrictions introduced to tackle it.