PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH:

Academic psychologist, Andrew Mayers specialises in mental health, particularly in the perinatal period.

What does perinatal mean?

Perinatal refers to the period of time pregnancy starts up to a year after giving birth. Perinatal mental illness affects up to 27% of new and expectant mums and covers a wide range of conditions. There are many services that provide care and treatment for the mother of the child during this period and most focus on the bonding between mother and child and maternal mental health.

Andrew however, although still supporting and campaigning for maternal mental health sees that husbands and partners are often overlooked when it comes to providing support and information on perinatal mental health. Evidence suggests that the risk factors, and impact, of perinatal mental health are reduced when mothers have a supportive partner or the child has a supportive father figure.

Andrew attempts to raise awareness, getting involved with campaigns, making media appearances and sharing resources and contacts for those struggling on his website and through other media.

He believes that while we are beginning to see appropriate mental health support directed at mothers during the perinatal period, their partners frequently disregarded. Women are given near to no support for postnatal depression, therefore men are not even so much as an afterthought. Fathers or partners or the mother can also and frequently do develop mental health problems around the perinatal period, including depression and anxiety. This can be classed as postnatal depression or paternal depression but is rarely taken into consideration, let alone spoke about.