Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

(asked on 18th April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2017 to Question 115732 on Baby Care Units, what progress his Department has made increasing access to specialist perinatal mental health support.


Answered by
Jackie Doyle-Price Portrait
Jackie Doyle-Price
This question was answered on 30th April 2019

The Department is committed to improving perinatal mental health services. NHS England has invested in better perinatal mental health care for new and expectant mothers, with at least 9,000 additional women receiving treatment last year. This represents significant progress against the target set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health for at least 30,000 additional women each year to access evidence-based specialist perinatal mental health treatment by 2020/21.

The NHS Long Term Plan includes a commitment for a further 24,000 women to be able to access specialist perinatal mental health care by 2023/24, building on the additional 30,000 women who will access these services each year by 2020/21. Specialist care will also be available from preconception to 24 months after birth, which will provide an extra year of support.

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