Addressing postpartum depression in India: Experts urge integration in National programmes

New Delhi: Health experts on Monday called for the urgent integration of perinatal maternal mental health into national programmes to better address postpartum depression, anxiety, and other conditions affecting new mothers.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 10 per cent of pregnant women and 13 per cent of women who have recently given birth worldwide experience a mental disorder, primarily depression.

In India, where more than 25 million births occur annually, most women with mental health problems during pregnancy and in the year after childbirth, known as the perinatal period, go undetected and untreated, particularly in rural areas.

A recent systematic review of Indian studies found prevalence rates for perinatal depression ranging from 14 to 24 per cent in community-based research, while some meta-analyses reported a pooled estimate of about 22 per cent for postpartum depression.

Although maternal mortality in India has declined by more than half since the early 2000s to 97 deaths per 100,000 live births, maternal suicide has emerged as a growing concern. A 2020 report from Kerala estimated that suicide accounted for nearly one in five maternal deaths in the state.

“There is an urgent need to integrate perinatal maternal mental health into national programmes in India,” said Prof Rajesh Sagar of AIIMS, speaking at an expert consultation on the subject in New Delhi.

Sagar noted that while women’s mental health is referenced in policies such as the National Mental Health Policy (2014) and the Mental Health Care Act (2017), there is no dedicated programme or formal screening system to support new mothers.

Experts, including Prof. Prabha Chandra of NIMHANS, pointed to major gaps, such as inadequate training for doctors, nurses, and ASHA workers; the absence of culturally relevant tools; and the stigma that prevents women from seeking psychological help even when identified as at risk.

They called for state-specific strategies, stronger collaboration, capacity building, and the inclusion of mental health history-taking during routine antenatal care.

“It is critical to ensure that perinatal mental health is not seen as a standalone issue, as this could increase stigma and discrimination,” said Dr YK Sandhya, Programme Lead–Mental Health at The George Institute for Global Health India. “Instead, it should be embedded within routine antenatal and postnatal care, making it sustainable and accessible for women.”

IANS