Women: Postnatal Depression

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2015 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

It is positive that the number of midwives has increased by 2,000 since 2010, as I mentioned, and there is a record number in training, as the noble Baroness mentioned. But she is right about the role of the midwife before, during and after the birth. The visits that a new mother can expect from a midwife should contain a session where the right questions are asked of the mother about how she is feeling and how her baby is. The signs and symptoms of postnatal depression are ones that every midwife is trained to pick up.

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote (CB)]

My Lords, as well as the importance of the bonding of the mother and baby, and the other very welcome steps that the Government are taking, I hope the Minister will agree that the needs of the children at home—they are very badly affected, one hears, by a mother who is in a state of mental depression—should be taken into account and met equally.

[Earl Howe]

The noble Baroness is, of course, quite right. Again, midwives and health visitors involved in family nurse partnerships are trained to look at the welfare and well-being of all members of the family.