Training on pre- and postnatal mental illness insufficient

419 midwives and health visitors took part in a new survey, 72 per cent of which said they do not think the current amount of training on pre- and postnatal mental illnesses is sufficient.

The charity PANDAS published the survey to mark the start of Pre and Postnatal Depression Awareness Week, which runs until 10 September.

A third of midwives and health visitors said they only had between one and three hours of formal education about perinatal mental illnesses during their initial training, with 16 per cent saying they are not confident talking about prenatal mental illnesses and 39 per cent saying they don’t feel they have the appropriate knowledge and skills from diagnosis to referral for treatment and follow up appointments.

Janet Fyle, professional policy advisor at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said: “This reflects the results of a similar survey by the RCM in 2014. Support for women with pregnancy related mental health problems is improving, but there is still a long way to go.

“We are still short of specialist maternal mental health midwives, specialist mother and baby units and specialist services within the community where women with mental health problems can initially be supported to avoid their condition worsening.

“This is despite the government’s commitments to improve services for these women and this survey shows that they need to do much more.”