Dr Nicole Highet is the Founder and Executive Director, Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE).
The Lindsay Clancy case in the United States has forced renewed attention on the devastating consequences of severe perinatal mental illness and the risk of maternal suicide. However, as we’re seeing all too often in the media, these tragic scenarios are also occurring closer to home.
The recent murder-suicide of a South Australian mum, her toddler and three-month-old baby and last weekend’s incident in NSW, from which details are still emerging, tells us that parents are reaching breaking point, and the system is failing them.
The nation’s approach to identifying people who need help during this stage remains inconsistent.
A mother can receive intensive medical care throughout pregnancy, give birth and attend her four to six-week check-up, and she is often lucky to have one mental health screening, depending on her postcode and who provided her maternity care.
This is despite Australia’s National Perinatal Mental Health Guideline recommending universal, routine screening at multiple points during pregnancy and after birth, including at least twice during the first postnatal year.
We are not screening parents at the time when maternal suicide is most likely to occur. The iCOPE data reveals that parents are not routinely screened at all beyond 6-8 weeks postpartum, even though74% of maternal suicides occur between 43-365 days after the baby is born.
And what about fathers?
Whilst we know fathers and non-birthing partners have additional demands and expectations like never before, we have no representative data about the state of their mental health because they are not offered screening at all. Once again, this is contrary to guideline recommendations. As a result, fathers and non-birthing partners are missing out on screening, education and referral pathways at a time when this is critical.
The high clinical needs of today’s parents also impacts professionals at the frontline – midwives, maternal and child health nurses, GPs and obstetricians. Clinical guidance and support are required to ensure they have the competence and confidence to identify and respond at and beyond the point of screening.
We already have tools to guide professionals and to equip parents to understand their mental health, self-assess how they are coping and find appropriate support around the country, from pregnancy and right through the first year of parenthood. But this is not universally accessible.
We need consistency, national leadership and sustained investment to ensure these supports reach both parents and the professionals who provide their care – wherever they live and whenever they have their baby.
Perinatal mental health cannot and should not depend on your postcode, whether you’re accessing public or private maternity care, or whether a particular program or initiative is funded in a particular area at a particular time. We would never consider or accept this when it comes to screening for gestational diabetes – yet this is the case for mental health.
Early identification and support can change the trajectory of a family’s life.
We should not need another tragedy to remind us why this matters.
If you need help, resources are available at:
Panda Helpline to talk to a counsellor – 1300 726 306
COPE’s weekly guide for expectant and new parents available at cope.org.au