7. Debate on the Children, Young People and Education Committee report on Perinatal Mental Health in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:07 pm on 31 January 2018.

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Photo of Mark Reckless Mark Reckless Conservative 6:07, 31 January 2018

I would agree with you on that, and I think the circumstances of birth and the way the health system supports it do allow that. Our baby's now eight months old, but when my wife gave birth in May last year, we were very struck by the quality of the provision and just how much we had in the way of midwife visits and how many interactions we had prior to being discharged from that service. While that level of attention is being given, it is an opportunity to explore these issues to screen. It's sometimes quite difficult to make a binary diagnosis of whether someone is suffering from postnatal depression, for instance, or not, but there are some pointers or suggestions that that is a risk or perhaps that they may be. And I think that, in those circumstances, having a step down and step up to the system, potentially involving the third sector, is very important. So, in some cases, where a baby is discharged but there is thought to be the basis for follow-up, sometimes that will be done through the health visitor but, potentially, also through the third sector, and just flagging circumstances where it's worth that extra bit of follow-up to see if you can catch people. So, you have a group who already are in contact and those who are not.

And then there are the really quite serious things. I was quite struck by postpartum psychosis, and I'd particularly like to give credit to Sally Wilson, who I thought was a fantastic witness who really assisted me in understanding this issue. Simply the extent to which patients can respond to someone from the third sector who's been through that experience themselves is so important, I feel that we need to do more for our health systems to integrate that third sector unique support to give women the support they deserve and need in these circumstances.