Hansard

I thank the members who signed my motion, which welcomes the everyone’s business campaign to Scotland. The campaign is incredibly personal to me; I have been a mental health nurse for more than 30 years, and for the past 15 years I have specialised in perinatal mental healthcare. I refer members to my entry in the register of interests: I am a registered mental health nurse and hold an honorary contract with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

I am delighted to welcome a number of people to the gallery this afternoon. We are joined by change agents and some of Scotland’s most talented mental health professionals, from lead nurses to consultant perinatal psychiatrists and consultant clinical psychologists. I sincerely hope that they will enjoy their visit to Parliament. Among them is an individual without whom perinatal mental health services in Scotland would not be where they are today, and for that we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude. Dr Roch Cantwell’s passion has ensured that many mothers, their infants and their families have received the specialist care that they have needed and deserved.

I pay tribute to the everyone’s business campaign co-ordinator for Scotland, Joanne Smith, for her work and drive in ensuring that the campaign has been raised in Parliament.

Our debate this afternoon could not be more timely. We are in the middle of this year’s mental health awareness week, at a time where mental health is at the forefront of the public’s thoughts. Although most people will be aware of the shocking statistic that suicide is the biggest killer of men aged under 45, it is probably less known that it is also the leading cause of direct maternal deaths within a year of childbirth.

Perinatal mental health problems are, sadly, all too common, with estimates that range between 10 per cent and 20 per cent for the number of women developing an illness in the first postnatal year, and it being estimated that one in seven of those women hides or underplays its severity.

Across the United Kingdom, mental illness in pregnant and postnatal women often goes unrecognised, undiagnosed, and untreated, with many mothers suffering in silence. The everyone’s business campaign is therefore calling for all women across the UK who experience perinatal mental health problems to receive the crucial care that they and their families need, wherever and whenever they need it.

The campaign is built on three main themes:

“Accountability for perinatal mental health care should be clearly set at a national level and complied with.

Community specialist perinatal mental health teams meeting national quality standards should be available for women in every area of the UK.

Training in perinatal mental health care should be delivered to all professionals involved in the care of women during pregnancy and the first year after birth.”

The campaign recently published a UK-wide map that categorises the levels of specialist perinatal mental health community teams in different areas. The map includes so-called red areas, where no specialist team exists; pink areas, where some extremely basic provision exists; amber areas, where basic provision exists but falls short of national standards and need to be expanded; and green areas, where women and families can access treatment that meets nationally agreed standards.

Although there might not be comprehensive community care across the country, as is reflected on that map, that is not to say that there are no services available at all. There are dedicated professionals across many services throughout Scotland who are ensuring that mothers, their children and their families can access help. All health boards in Scotland bar two have direct access to one of the two mother and baby units in Scotland, and the two exceptions can access that care, when required.

I am very proud to have worked, prior to my election, in the perinatal mental health service in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which is categorised as being at the highest level on the everyone’s business map.

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance’s report acknowledges, as do I, that we can do more across Scotland. In 2017, the Scottish Government, with the first-ever Minister for Mental Health in the UK, sought to address the disparities by launching the new Scottish managed clinical network for perinatal mental health, in order to identify gaps in provision of such care and to promote improvements in local services.

The new network is an excellent start towards ensuring that every woman and her family who require help with perinatal mental health problems receive prompt and effective care from professionals who are skilled to meet their needs.

Although we are not fully there yet, as an RMN with over 30 years’ experience, I cannot overstate how far our mental health services have come in that time. When I started nursing, mental health hospitals were on the periphery of our society—they were, quite literally, on the outskirts of towns and cities—and there were few community services available. Now, community mental health services are the norm, there is liaison psychiatry in our acute hospitals, and crisis and home treatment teams can be found in most areas of the country.

As clinical nurse manager of the perinatal mental health service, I was part of the team who helped to set up the mother and baby unit in Glasgow in 2004—the first of its kind in Scotland. All that and the continuous work to end stigma have ensured that our services, our treatment, and the prevention of mental illness are constantly improving.

I have, over the years, cared for so many women suffering from a range of illnesses, including depression and anxiety, after having a baby. Many of them had lost all confidence in themselves and their ability to be a good parent, but after some treatment and support, they got back to health.

I often reflect on the words of one particular mum, who gave me a card after her care and treatment came to a close. She wrote:

“I have spent weeks looking for a gift that shows my appreciation for all that you have done for me. Nothing I could find seemed good enough so I am trying to find the words in this card to repay you. You have given me back my life. You have knitted my family back together again and I can now get on with being the mum I want to be to my children.”

I believe that those words show exactly why the services are so important. As a perinatal nurse, I feel very privileged to have worked with mums, their infants, and their families at a very special time in their lives—the time when their baby has been born. It is a very special area of mental healthcare and one that I am very passionate about. I am sure that other health and social care professionals who work in the field feel likewise. That shows why perinatal mental healthcare is so important.

Perinatal mental health is everyone’s business: until all the mums who experience perinatal mental health problems receive the care that they and their families need, wherever and whenever they need it, we still have some work left to do.