Supporting maternal mental health

9 May 2025

By Dr Zoë Tipa 

Chief Nurse, Whānau Āwhina Plunket

Becoming a parent is life-changing – it can be a time of great joy and also great challenges.  

As Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest health care provider for children under five, Whānau Āwhina Plunket is fortunate enough to witness that life-changing journey every day. We support three-quarters of all new babies across the country, including nearly six out of 10 Māori pēpi – and it is both a privilege and a responsibility to walk alongside whānau.  

And while there is joy, we know it is also normal to feel some anxiety, stress, and anger as a parent – it can be hard work. And those major life changes can also make people more vulnerable to mental illness. 

Our Plunket nurses, kaiāwhina and health workers regularly support whānau experiencing anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns. The numbers are sobering: as many as one in four women, and one in 10 dads in this country experience post-natal depression. 

Our free 24/7 parenting help and advice service, PlunketLine, receives approximately 265 mental health related calls per month.  

In 2024, 23% of new māmā seen for a core one contact with Plunket (the first appointment when the baby is between four and six weeks old) had a pre-existing mental health condition. The rates were highest for NZ European and Māori māmā at 33% for both ethnicities. 

Our nurses screen for postnatal depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire and we refer mums to other providers when needed. In 2024, 10% of all new māmā shared concerns about their mental wellbeing with the Plunket nurse at their pēpi core one contact. Māori māmā had the highest rate at 11%. 

These statistics are echoed around the globe. The Maternal Mental Health Task Force, made up of maternal mental health advocates from around the world, says that in many countries, one in five new mothers experience perinatal mood and anxiety disorder. This often goes unnoticed and untreated, with around seven in 10 women hiding or downplaying their symptoms. And the impact can be devasting for the women affected and for their partner, child and wider whānau.  

At Plunket we know that it is hard not to feel judged by everyone as a new parent – and parents are often hardest on themselves. 

Our goal is for our kaimahi to build a trusting relationship with parents, caregivers and their wider whānau. It is only then that whānau we are working alongside will feel able to share their issues or concerns. We are always working to improve our service, to respond to whānau needs in ways that work best for them. 

For 26 years Plunket has offered the Plunket Perinatal Adjustment Programme (PPNAP) maternal mental health support service to people who have given birth in Canterbury, South Canterbury (19 years) and Dunedin (11 years). 

The programme aims to support those who are adjusting to parenting and/or experiencing mild to moderate distress/depression in the perinatal period. It provides short-term non-emergency service assessment, intervention and education and links up with community-based services.  

In short, it fills a gap we were seeing with people who might not yet meet the criteria for depression but would benefit from support to address issues that could lead to it.  

From July 2023 to June 2024 the programme supported 674 clients who were struggling to adjust to parenting.  

This involves an assessment in the home with follow-up support via home visit or telephone. Families can ask their midwife, GP or Well Child Tamariki Ora provider for a referral to the programme, and self-referrals are also welcome. 

Since this service began in 1999, the complexity of cases has steadily increased. Our team are seeing more cases of anxiety and depression; of PTSD; larger numbers of clients who need ACC counselling; and more clients with a high incidence of adverse childhood experiences, such as family violence. This means we are seeing people more often and for longer periods of time.  

We would love to expand the programme nationwide, but of course there is a cost associated with this that we are not currently funded for.   

We know that new māmā and whānau have an increased risk of mental health issues and that the first 2000 days of a child’s life can have a lifelong impact. We feel strongly that this is an important tool, as we work with other health providers to provide wrap around support at this vulnerable time.  

• Contact PlunketLine for free 24/7 parenting advice from a Plunket nurse: 0800 933 922 
• Find out how to access PPNAP in Canterbury, South Canterbury or Dunedin.