If you'd met me 10 months after having my son, you probably wouldn't have thought there was anything wrong.

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I was back at work, running businesses, looking after my family, and from the outside, I looked like a woman who had her life together.

Yet that's exactly why I think we're missing a huge part of the maternity mental health conversation.

When we talk about maternal mental health, we tend to focus on women who are in crisis. We talk about postpartum psychosis, severe postnatal depression and the mothers who are clearly in crisis and need urgent support. We don't usually talk about the woman sitting in the middle, who is functioning or getting on with it, and often she is carrying more than she can cope with, but feels she has no choice but to keep going.

I know that woman because, despite experiencing postpartum psychosis after the birth of my son in 2025, I was also her.

My experience of maternity care was one of constantly feeling delegated to the next person. I remember speaking to a GP because I knew what I was feeling had gone beyond the baby blues and what was constantly said to be ‘normal’. I was struggling with anxiety and low mood, and wanted to understand what was happening to me. I thought I’d taken the brave step and reached out, but instead, I felt as though the conversation very quickly became about what medication I could be prescribed.

I had expected more conversation and discussion around what to do, and I wanted........

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