Specialist prenatal care services are practically non-existent in over a quarter of the UK. This is according to a new campaign. It’s true that some progress has been made over the last couple of years but the lack of services for both women and men is unacceptable. This is according to the Maternal Mental Health Alliance. They represent more than 80 groups in total and it is really important that people have access to these kinds of services. It’s also really important that funding is all across the four nations. In England alone, there are many places that do not have access to specialist services and this is a tough pill to swallow for those who work in nursing jobs, in a nursing agency. If you work in a nursing recruitment agency then you will understand how important it is for people to be able to get the help that they need and Northern Ireland did the worst out of everyone. Every region other than Belfast did not have any specialist prenatal services available at all and this is shocking to say the least.

The alliance has also taken note that the Welsh government has given money to the local health board and this is designed to try and improve services. It has highlighted the fact that both Scotland and even Northern Ireland have not prioritised their specialist and community services. More than one out of every ten women described themselves having a mental illness during their pregnancy or even in the first year after they had their baby. Some of them even went on to experience severe problems and this is shocking to say the least. Of course, only time will tell if this happens to change but at the minute it doesn’t look likely.