Too many women feel pretty abandoned after having a baby. I joined a parliamentary round table led by Bupa looking at the gaps in perinatal and postnatal care and how we can provide better continuity of care and earlier intervention.
Ultimately, women should be getting more support for both their physical and mental health after they give birth, and other countries are way ahead of us on this.
We talked about how a joined-up, lifecycle approach to women’s health, which takes in postnatal recovery through to periods and menopause, is needed and looked at what’s needed from policymakers, healthcare providers and employers to deliver it.
It was a really useful discussion and one I’m keen to keep on the agenda. It’s great that the refreshed Women’s Health Strategy, launched last month starts to set out how we will do this, but much more investment is still needed specifically in those moments after birth.
