May it be all about mothers’ mental health: NIMHANS

New Delhi: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) has launched several new initiatives and projects for maternal mental health in honour of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month on May 3.

According to experts, mental health disorders affect up to one in five women during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth. However, new and expectant mothers face various challenges when seeking mental healthcare, such as a lack of knowledge about where to get support, an inability to recognise psychological distress in oneself, transportation issues, financial constraints, and hesitation and stigma about accessing help.

NIMHANS will come up with studies with regard to maternal mental health. One of the studies that will be conducted in the month of May is Community Health Interventions with Music Engagement (CHIME) for mothers and the other is on childbirth-related trauma in obstetric services in Karnataka, funded by the Department of Health Research, Government of India.

In addition to this, NIMHANS is collaborating with Haplocare, founded by maternal mental health advocate Sonali Mohanty Quantius, to provide digital solutions to obstetricians for evaluating mental health among mothers in their clinics and to support women in self-assessment.

The professors from the department of psychiatry at NIMHANS revealed that, along with Haplocare, the institute will organise a free online seminar on Tuesday, to celebrate World Maternal Mental Health Day under the theme ‘Stronger Together’.

“The seminar aims to encourage women to talk about maternal mental health issues, seek support, promote advocacy, and raise awareness about perinatal mental health problems. The event includes a listening circle where women with lived experience of mental health issues will share their stories, and mental health experts will teach simple techniques to manage symptoms,” said a professor.

The mental health experts that will be involved in teaching techniques will include yoga practitioner, paediatrician and lactation consultant, music therapist, and perinatal psychologist.