Today is world maternal mental health day.

Dr. Archana Vidyasankar, a Perinatal Psychiatrist, and an associate professor at Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine, says it is an important day to mark because globally 1 in 5 moms experience mood and anxiety disorders in pregnancy and postpartum.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, she says those rates are even higher at 1 in 4.

Further, she says the national average in Canada is 23 per cent, but the provincial average is 28 per cent.

Some of the reasons for that, according to Vidyasankar, are things such as geographic isolation, a lack of mental health resources—particularly those focused on maternal or postpartum mental health. As well, she says there is a lot of stigma, doctors often check things like blood pressure, but don’t ask how the parent is feeling.