24th February 2016
As Sport Relief’s maternal mental health campaign gets underway today, it’s important to share our Parent Tips on Emotional Health and Wellbeing for Mothers and Fathers.
If you’re a health visitor, please share these with your parents.
Mood changes, irritability and episodes of tearfulness are common after giving birth. These symptoms are often known as the “baby blues”, which affects 50% of new mothers and usually lasts around 5 to 10 days. More than 1 in 10 women develop a mental illness during pregnancy or within the first year of having a baby.
Men go through a multitude of complex changes during the transition to fatherhood, making the postnatal period a particularly vulnerable time in a man’s life. Fathers can experience depression in the postnatal period resulting from the different demands placed on them. This is often known as paternal postnatal depression.
