Mothers missing out on mental health support due to insecure funding, report finds

Mothers in the UK are missing out on specialist mental health support due to insecure funding, according to a new report by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA).

The MMHA said the overall provision and quality of specialist perinatal mental health services have improved in the last decade, but progress across the country has been uneven.

According to MMHA research, this is largely due to workforce planning and shortage issues, made worse by insecure or late allocation of funds.

Around one in five women experience mental health problems during or after pregnancy, and suicide remains the leading cause of direct maternal death in the first postnatal year.

The MMHA’s latest report on specialist perinatal mental health (PMH) community services in the UK highlighted significant progress made in all four nations since 2013. However, access to life-saving mental healthcare for pregnant women and new mothers remains uneven, with many regions still lacking the necessary resources. Mental health-related deaths during pregnancy or up to six weeks after birth are rising, emphasising the urgency of addressing this issue.

The MMHA’s Freedom of Information request on budget allocation and spending on services found that although 89% of the 70 areas that responded had seen their budget increase from 2020/1 to 2022/3, 66% indicated there would be an underspend for 2022/3.

Workforce-related issues were the most frequently cited reason for underspending (58% of respondents), but many teams provided evidence indicating this was due to unclear or late budget allocation, with no guarantee of continuation. This is inevitably resulting in women, babies, and families not receiving the care they need.

One healthcare professional told the MMHA: ‘We have had no increase in funding since inception of service. Despite our understanding that this should be ringfenced commissioners and managers have spent this money elsewhere. We have protested but with no effect. Nonetheless, the expectation that we see more women each year (in line with trajectories as if funding had filtered down) continues.

‘We are working far beyond funded capacity which – as predicted and highlighted repeatedly – is now manifesting as increased sickness, stress, burnout and increased staff turnover.’

The MMHA said secure funding was vital for maintaining and building upon the progress made with the expansion of specialist PMH services. Without it, recruitment will be impacted, exacerbating existing problems of understaffing and low morale, and ultimately specialist services may struggle to deliver urgent and necessary care to women who desperately need it. To break this cycle, teams must be shown that there is secure funding available.

MMHA President Dr Alain Gregoire said: ‘Over the last ten years, there has been a growing understanding of the importance of specialist care for maternal mental health, which has led to welcome improvements across the UK. However, it’s crucial that this momentum and commitment is maintained. National and local decision-makers must ensure that allocated resources reach clinical services to ensure that mothers, babies, and families can access the care they need. We must grasp this exceptional opportunity to make a real and lasting impact on the lives of women, babies, and future generations.’

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