Thousands of women could not get vital help with their mental health during pregnancy or right after giving birth because of the covid pandemic, according to new analysis of data.
In 2020/21 47,000 were expected to access perinatal mental health services, but in the most recent data for the 2020 calendar year only 31,261 managed to get help with problems such as anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts in pregnancy and early motherhood.