News
This week is Perinatal Mental Health Week, an annual event which takes place in November. It is a national week that raises awareness, provide information, referral pathway support and de-stigmatise perinatal mental health issues experienced by expectant and new parents during what will be one of the most vulnerable times in their life.
Eliza Hull is a musical artist, writer, journalist, and disability advocate based in Victoria, Australia. She’s also a parent.
Eliza lives with a neurological condition called Charcot Marie Tooth. Her condition means she has a 50 percent chance of passing on her disability to her children.
Eliza says she didn't have anybody to look up to when she was younger.
“Luckily, I did grow up in a household where my parents were very supportive of me having children,” she says.
When Eliza decided to have a child however, her neurologist was less than helpful.
“He discriminated against me. He said that I shouldn't become a parent…because of those experiences, there were moments that I was full of anxiety, full of fear and at times that anxiety caused some real issues even post birth.”
Eliza is advocating for more support out for parents with disability.
“We actually are four times more likely to have poor mental health outcomes dealing with anxiety, depression, and often I think the issue is we're afraid that we'll be judged if we seek help.”
Based on her experience, Eliza feels that the NDIS doesn’t do enough to support parenting with a disability.
“They didn't want to fund an adaptive bath so that I could give my child a bath safely. They still see parenting as separate to our disability.”
“Still today, parents with intellectual disability have their children taken from them… more than 70%, without being given adequate support or education to actually look after their child.”
Parents with disability can face discrimination when it comes to taking their children to school or out in the community, despite 15 percent of households having at least one parent with a disability.
Across Australia:
- 1 in 5 new mums and 1 in 10 new dads will experience perinatal mental ill health
- It affects around 100, 000 people thousand Australians every single year.
- 20 percent of people have no support at all around them
Arabella Gibson, CEO of the Giget Foundation Australia, explains that when it comes to preventative mental health measures, early intervention is key.
“Providing early intervention and providing parents with the support that they need is so important because we also know that parents really encounter significant barriers which can hinder their access to support.”
Arabella says barriers include the stigma of perinatal mental ill health, a lack of awareness around the illness itself, geographical barriers and costs involved with accessing care.
Multiple organisations are available to provide support to parents in what it is that they might be feeling and the symptoms they're experiencing.
“We just we want them to know that they're not alone…to know that there are organisations out there that can help provide free support, specialist support, and it's available to them right now” Arabella says.