Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to raise awareness among expectant mothers of postnatal depression.

This Government is committed to improving perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year, so that women are able to access the right care at the right time and close to home.

This includes upskilling relevant professionals to raise awareness among expectant mothers of postnatal depression. In particular, midwives and health visitors have a role in raising awareness and early identification of mental health concerns.

Overall, the Department is investing £365 million from 2015/16 to 2020/21 in perinatal mental health services, and NHS England is leading a transformation programme to ensure that by 2020/21 at least 30,000 more women each year are able to access evidence-based specialist mental health care during the perinatal period.