Maternal Mental Health Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Kirith Entwistle
Main Page: Kirith Entwistle (Labour - Bolton North East)Department Debates - View all Kirith Entwistle's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
Maternal Mental Health
Kirith Entwistle Excerpts(1 day, 16 hours ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Kirith Entwistle (Bolton North East) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Laura Kyrke-Smith) for securing this crucial debate, and I am truly sorry to hear of her loss.
For too long, mothers’ mental health has been dismissed. Women raising concerns are belittled and told they have “baby blues” when they are battling post-natal depression or even PTSD. This is personal for me. After my son’s birth I requested a debrief—a simple conversation to process my own experience. My son turns three this year and I am still waiting. For doctors and midwives, it might be their thousandth birth, but for the mother it can be traumatic, particularly if it is her first.
Reports by the Care Quality Commission show that one in three mothers are denied pain relief, with some told to “suck it up” when they ask for help. That is misogyny, not medicine. As a member of the Women and Equalities Committee I am proud to have played a part in highlighting some of the medical misogyny that women experience with the publication of our most recent report.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury for referring to post-partum psychosis, a severe but treatable illness that affects over 1,200 mothers a year. I am also proud that Amy Rothwell of Bolton Maternity Voices Partnership is working with Royal Bolton hospital to ensure that patient feedback drives real improvements. I urge the Minister to make maternal mental health in Bolton and around the country a priority. No mother should feel ignored or alone, and we really need urgent change.