Experiences of Perinatal Mental Health

Healthwatch Wandsworth wanted to hear from people who live in Wandsworth about their experiences of managing emotional and mental health wellbeing in pregnancy, childbirth or the first year after giving birth and becoming a parent. They developed an online survey to ask Wandsworth residents about their recent experience of mental health and wellbeing during the perinatal period. The survey was open from December 2020 until April 2021 and 64 people responded to the survey.

There were many positive comments about support from services, however, there were comments that suggest there is room for improvement. These improvement recommendations pertain to getting a referral and reducing waiting times for mental health support, ensuring that issues are understood by health and care professionals who can then identify and refer people who need support, co-ordination between services and continuity of care, availability of support from community settings and forums amongst others.