It's Perinatal Mental Health Week. These are the conversations we should be having about early parenthood
Natalie MacDonald
Senior News Editor, Special Projects Lead - APAC @ LinkedIn | Currently on parental leave
1 in 5 new mums and 1 in 10 new dads/non-birthing partners experience perinatal depression and anxiety, which is around 100,000 Australian parents each year.
This week marks Perinatal Mental Health Week — a national collaboration of 46 organisations, including not-for-profit Gidget Foundation Australia . CEO Arabella Gibson writes on Linkedin that the campaign’s goal is to “create understanding, reduce stigma and provide education and support”.
Perinatal psychologist Lauren Keegan posts, “There’s a lot of pressure on parents these days to get things right. Many mothers feel they have to be 'perfect' (or at least appear that way) and this can become a barrier to help-seeking”.?
Keegan believes that, actually, what children need is what she labels ‘good enough parenting’. Read more on that here.?
Like many mental health services in the wake of the pandemic, Gidget Foundation has seen a huge increase in demand for its wide range of clinical treatment programs with a nearly six-month waitlist for services across all Gidget centres, despite delivering 127% more services YoY in the past 12 months.?
The issue of access to services is greater still for those living in rural areas. Women with depressive disorders who reside in remote or rural areas are more likely to experience significantly higher parenting stress due to limited access to specialist services, according to research.
Tasmania-based Stephanie Trethewey founded Australia’s first online rural mothers group program Motherland Village to eliminate the isolation many women on the land face. Sharing her experience of being booked under ‘podiatry’ instead of ‘psychology’ after waiting two months for an appointment, Trethewey writes, “If we didn’t laugh, we’d cry”.
“Until our healthcare system steps up and adequately values and supports those people whose cries for help continue to fall on deaf ears thanks to inefficient people and processes, things will not change,” shares Trethewey.
I’ll be chatting with Trethewey in a few weeks on the theme of community. If you have a question you’d like to ask Stephanie, let me know in the comments.?
The theme of this year’s Perinatal Mental Health Week is ‘We’re here, we get it’. Gibson writes, "We get the challenges faced in pregnancy and early parenthood. We want expectant and new parents to know that they are not alone".
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We want to hear from you. How can workplaces ensure new parents and caregivers are supported through the early phase of parenthood. Share your experiences and how your community stepped up by leaving your thoughts in the comments.
Support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14, and Mensline on 1300 789 978.
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Impact Strategy & Marketing for Conscious Businesses
2 年We've just had our second bub, the first was during the first big lockdown. Yesterday was a rough one for us, and me personally, felt completely overwhelmed a build up of weeks of light anxiousness. I feel working from home has made it so hard to also be performing at work (from home) without that personal/physical connection, while also hearing little kids crying or asking why daddy can't play. We just keep telling ourselves this is a head season and many parents have done it and survived, so push through.
President emeritus of the Australian Institute of Technicalchefs, Communications Manager and Consultant.
2 年Kitchens are very unforgiving places for pregnant women. Concrete floors Slippery surfaces Lifting Physical work. Strategic planning needs to be done to support women through pregnancy.
Co-Director/ Organisational Psychologist at Transitioning Well
2 年Thanks for starting this important conversation Natalie. How a workplace looks after their people at this stage in life is so very important. When it's not done right, the consequences can be felt for a very long time, and sometimes across an entire organisation. In my experience there are many steps workplaces can take to support new parents and caregivers, but if I were to distil it down to a few key points I would say: 1. Commit to creating a culture of support - this means not just a manager to employee, but peer to peer, employee to manager, all of it, top-down, down-top and sideways! 2. Keep the lines of communication open, and be really intentional about checking in often. 3. Ask, don't assume. We all have biases, so it's always good to ask your mums and dads what they need rather than assume you know. 4. Have policies and procedures in place - get that handover plan ready, commit to keeping-in-touch days and be open to flexibility. Finally, just keep talking. No one experience is the same. Things change. Be open, adaptable and support, support, support. Do all this, and you're on your way to being an employer of choice.
Equity and Inclusion Advisor at Vision Australia
2 年This is something close to my heart. I suffered postnatal depression and felt so alone and useless as a mum. I loved my daughter and didn't understand why I felt so alone and emotional all the time. There is so much conflicting advice and judgement. Parenting today has worn me down so much some days I feel like I'm the worst person for this very important job. It's such a juggle, not enough hours in the day but I am lucky that I have an understanding employer that appreciates the pressures of mum-life. The pressures and comments can be so consuming it sticks with you. I still feel like I get it ALL wrong, always comparing myself to others. Parents do a lot of masking. I mostly hide away and avoid socializing, afraid of the judgement. Everyone is different and come form all different circumstances. We need to be more understanding of each other and support rather than comment/judge . You don't know what someone else is going through. Just because something works or doesn't work for you doesn't mean it the same for someone else. I'm trying to work on myself so that I can provide my daughter with better support and raise her to know that when her time comes there is no PERFECT MUM and that I'll be there to love and support her.
Social Purpose- Leadership, Governance & Education. Chief Executive Officer at The Smith Family. Board Member
2 年Of all the challenges families face, erosion of mental health can be the most insidious. Research shows us that perinatal depression and anxiety strikes across all demographics and locations. We know without doubt that access to services is difficult for those living in rural areas. We also know that access to services is difficult for those living with disadvantage. Even in locations we expect services to be available, for those living with disadvantage the cost of accessing these services (financial, time, emotional) may present insurmountable barriers. Most alarmingly, the stigma associated with mental health issues can cause parents to hide their concerns. At The Smith Family we know that’s why it is so important to normalise this experience across all communities, and to provide easy pathways to connect with services. We see through our work in our Child and Parent Centres and through Communities for Children the importance of local connection and support, to help new parents find the supports that they need.?