Meeting of the Parliament 17 May 2018
I thank Fulton MacGregor for that intervention, which gave me a chance to put my teeth back in.
I absolutely agree that children having both their parents around in the early days is good for mum, good for dad, good for baby and good for everybody, so I whole-heartedly support Fulton MacGregor’s campaign.
The most effective work will be done through partnerships including the local authority, the health and third sectors and—of course—perinatal mental health services. Those services straddle adult and child mental health services, which means that the investment protects two generations at once, by supporting child development outcomes and improving maternal mental health. It is work that will ultimately prevent unnecessary suffering for women and families, and it improves children’s early experiences and removes future pressures.
There is an obvious human cost of undiagnosed or untreated illness, and if those mental health problems were identified and treated quickly and effectively, serious and sometimes life-changing human and economic costs could be avoided.
All of us in the chamber agree that we want Scotland to be the best place to grow up. Addressing perinatal mental health issues effectively and as early as possible is just one of the things that we can do to help make that aspiration a reality. Let us pledge to do all that we can to make perinatal mental health everyone’s business.
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