Today is World Maternal Mental Health Day and the Perinatal Mental Health Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador is shining a spotlight on the struggles faced by many looking to grow their family.
The Alliance is taking an opportunity to pause and give thought to the support provided to families undertaking the journey including fertility, pregnancy, loss, delivery and the time up to a child’s early years.
Chair of the Perinatal Mental Health Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, Dr. Archana Vidyasankar, says pregnancy changes who you are as a person, as carrying a child into becoming a mother is a big undertaking.
There are many factors that can affect one’s mental health such as infertility, loss, birth trauma, the struggle to find medical care, the pandemic, anxiety, and low mood.
She says pre-pandemic numbers indicate this province has some of the highest rates of perinatal mood and anxiety distress across the country— 28 per cent of women who deliver children. She estimates that’s about 1,000 women a year in NL. She says those numbers affect the entire family.
She says a lot of factors play a role in the high rate in Newfoundland and Labrador, such as geographical location, low awareness and misconceptions surrounding post-partum, and a lack of services for those struggling with perinatal mental health.
She says its important to raise awareness because a bigger focus is needed on perinatal mental health, which can set the stage for healthy families for generations to come.
