Mental health in the United Kingdom
Agnes Hann of the National Childbirth Trust said, "These findings are shocking, and mean that thousands of women experiencing potentially serious perinatal mental health problems are not getting the support they need. Perinatal mental illness can have a severe and long-term impact on mothers, babies and families. In extreme circumstances, it can result in tragedy – suicide is a leading cause of maternal death." From roughly 10% to 20% of women giving birth experience some type of mental illness such as anxiety and depression or more complex problems like PTSD and psychosis. With about 665,000 births a year in England 66,500–133,000 women a year develop illnesses. In 2016, 13,000 women were treated by perinatal teams while 800 became inpatients. This means the majority were untreated.
Maternal fetal stress transfer
Maternal fetal stress transfer describes the physiological phenomenon by which psychosocial stress experienced by a mother during her pregnancy can be transferred to the fetus. Psychosocial stress (or simply social stress) describes the brain's physiological response to perceived social threat. Because of a link in blood supply between a mother and fetus, it has been found that stress can leave lasting effects on a developing fetus, even before a child is born. According to recent studies, these effects are mainly the result of two particular stress biomarkers circulating in the maternal blood supply: cortisol and catecholamines.