“And yet...”

(To view this gallery with easier to read versions of the letters, please go to this version of the gallery And Yet - Easy Read Letters Link)

Up to 1 in 5 women develop mental health problems in pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth. These can include conditions like anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, psychosis and PTSD. If untreated, perinatal mental illnesses can have a devastating effect on women and their families.

And yet a study by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has shown that only 7% of women in the UK with pregnancy-related mental health problems receive the specialist care they need. This is due in part to the stigma attached to admitting all is not well at what is meant to be a happy time, and also because there are huge gaps and shortages in mental health services across the country.

The women pictured here were all brave enough to ask for help when they developed mental health difficulties during or after their pregnancies and they were all fortunate enough to receive it, enabling them to recover.

This series of portraits aims to elevate and give due respect to these women and also to draw attention to the 93% identified by the RCOG study who would benefit from specialist help but aren’t able to access it.

Sources:
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Report: Women's Voices (Feb 2017)
NHS HEE Guidance: Specialist Health Visitors in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health - What they do and why they matter. (Mar 2016),
RCOG: Reported in the Guardian Newspaper (Feb 2017)

Miriam Winsor