1 in 8 women will experience Antenatal Depression and 1 in 5 women will experience Postnatal Depression every year in New Zealand. Approximately 7,500 of those women will experience delayed diagnosis and around 10,000 will not meet the criteria for Maternal Mental Health. Perinatal depression has a huge impact on their whole family: increased risk of suicide, illness becoming severe or chronic, partner depression and relationship breakdown, children developing cognitive, emotional, mental and behavioural development issues – specifically, learning difficulties, mental illness, addictions, delinquency and suicide. You can do something to address the delays in diagnosis:
