MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES for pregnant women and new mothers have seen thousands of people over the past few years but are struggling to keep up with increased demand.

Again and again, women told us about how they felt extremely isolated and without support as they struggled.

One described how a doctor printed out a page from the HSE website for her to read about postnatal depression.

Another said that a public health nurse running a support group on breastfeeding told women to pretend that they were breastfeeding so that they could access some support.

The Journal Investigates revealed this week that wait times for specialist services can take over a month for many women in crisis. 

These services, known as Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services (SPMHS), provide support for women who are experiencing moderate to severe depression during pregnancy and after giving birth.

Hospitals have also tightened their acceptance criteria for these services as demand increases, meaning some women are being missed or are instead referred to their GP or counselling services.

Our investigative team also revealed how the location for Ireland’s first mother and baby psychiatric unit has still not been decided after almost 10 years of delays.

The latest feasibility study looking at where to situate the unit on the grounds of St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin has not yet concluded more than two years after it commenced.

Readers contacted us from across the country about their experiences of mental health challenges related to their pregnancy and their struggle to access care.

They told us that there were many barriers to accessing the support they needed, including tightening criteria, the need to travel, and navigating a complex system at a time when they were struggling.

All of their names have been changed to protect their identity.

Thank you to everyone who got in touch.

Here’s what you told us.

• This article is part of a year-long exploration by The Journal Investigates into the issues that impact the safety of women in Ireland today. Over the course of four topics, we listen to women’s experiences, investigate the challenges they face, and explore potential solutions to improve outcomes across women’s health, safety in public, and access to justice and advancement.

More support needed in the home

Many of the women who got in touch spoke about their difficulties accessing care when they needed it most.

One woman, Chloe*, told our team that her mental health declined almost immediately after giving birth.

When she was expecting her routine visit from the public health nurse, she was told that they were on annual leave and that there wasn’t any cover.

These visits typically take place within 72 hours of returning home from the hospital, but Chloe said her baby was nine days old before she received a visit. She said:

During those first days, I cried constantly, gave up breastfeeding because I was so emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted, and remember repeatedly apologising to my baby because I felt I was failing her.

Chloe said that she also couldn’t see her usual GP and said, “I didn’t know how to explain how much I was struggling.”

She said that she was terrified that admitting her struggles would “raise concerns” about her ability to care for her baby. “So I said I was fine,” she added.

Chloe said that she doesn’t believe that support for women was there when she needed it most.

She said that while she was aware that SPMHS exist, “the reality is that they are not always accessible”.

Attending appointments alone during the week while her husband is at work “isn’t practical”, she said, adding that she thinks more support should be brought into the home. Chloe added:

Regular check-ins over the first year after birth would give mothers the time and space to speak openly about how they’re coping in an environment where they feel comfortable.

She said that an added benefit of this would be healthcare professionals being able to see that the baby is being cared for, “which I believe could help ease the fear many women have about asking for help.”

Women said that they had to rely on community supports instead of receiving more formal care Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Community support in lieu of care

Others who got in touch with our team spoke about leaning on community support groups and other new mothers when they weren’t able to access the care they needed.

One woman, Laura*, told our team that she could have benefited from continued support.

She said that the single GP visit wasn’t adequate and that she felt they didn’t check on her as a person during the visit, focusing only on how she was recovering physically.

Laura also said that while the public health nurse did ask her how she was feeling, she said in that moment she was fine and so answered honestly, but said during the first few months, “I didn’t cope at times.”

She’s not alone. Data from the National Maternity Experience Survey 2025 shows that the questions on mental health supports and whether GPs spent enough time on women’s recovery received the lowest average scores from mothers after giving birth.

Related Reads

Location of mother and baby psychiatric unit still not decided after almost ten years of delays

Pregnant women and new mothers in Ireland find restricted access to crisis mental health support

She said she was lucky to attend a weekly breastfeeding group where “us mums talked honestly to each other about how hard the pregnancy, birth and being a mum was”. She added:

Without that I would have suffered a lot more.

Perhaps demonstrating how important these community supports are in lieu of proper help, Laura said that some public health nurses directed new mothers to her breastfeeding support group, telling them to “pretend they were breastfeeding” so that they could get some support.

But relying on the goodwill of public health nurses to bend the rules isn’t a long-term solution. And Laura said that having to opt in and self-refer to SPMHS is a big restriction.

“Every mum should have mental health support,” she said, adding that even preparing new mothers for “how terrible you feel at times would at least make you know it’s to be expected”.

Saoirse*, another woman, agrees.

She said that she had postpartum anxiety for the first three months of her daughter’s life.

“What finally pulled me out of the severe anxiety was forcing myself to go out to different groups and classes for mums and babies,” Saoirse said. She added:

The community of mothers that I joined felt endlessly supportive and understanding because they were going through all the same struggles.

What Saoirse feels is lacking from the current system of care is “targeted peer support groups (with specialist oversight) for new mothers who feel the need to reach out in moments of acute despair”.

She said that there is an “unfair expectation that baby blues will lift for new mothers after a couple of weeks.”

As good as these community supports can be, they aren’t always available to all women.

Róisín* said that she had to travel every week to attend a privately run support group because there wasn’t any in her local community.

She said that if more services were available to women where they could speak to others going through the same thing, “you wouldn’t feel judged for speaking out or feel like you are the only one feeling this way”.

Services were good if you could access them

While many of the women who reached out to share their stories were struggling to access the care they needed, others who managed to make it through the system praised the support they received.

Their stories show that the problem doesn’t lie with the services themselves; it lies with the limited resources they are working with and their inability to see every woman who needs help.

Megan* said that once she engaged with SPMHS she found the service “to be really efficient and beneficial”. She added:

I feel hugely thankful to the SPMHS team who created a very safe space and were so kind and compassionate to me in a time where I was very vulnerable.

Megan said that the only downside to the service was that she wasn’t referred sooner. She said she didn’t seek out the referral, but looking back in hindsight, said she was in a “massively vulnerable position” during the first three months.

She said that despite having “numerous touchpoints between community midwife care, public health nurse visits and GP care”, she was never asked how she was feeling.

The closest someone ever got to checking on her mental health was her GP, who Megan said “printed out a HSE webpage about postnatal depression and handed it to me to read without even looking at me”.

But once she engaged with the SPMHS, her care dramatically improved. She said that she would encourage any new mothers experiencing difficulties to reach out for help.

Another woman, Olivia*, said she experienced mental health challenges with both of her pregnancies, but that she received “excellent care and support” from the SPMHS.

She said that the “comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach and regular contact with the team” helped her through the difficult times. Olivia added:

If I had not had access to this service and continuation of care in my second pregnancy, I am not sure if I would still be here.

Others also credit SPMHS with saving their lives, but said that with many facing tightening criteria and long wait times, improvements and investments are required.

The HSE is currently working on a refreshed model of care for SPMHS, which would expand SPMHS hubs to all maternity hospitals and provide additional resources to help more women access the help they need.

The Minister of State Mary Butler TD has also announced that she will “explicitly define the perinatal period as from beginning of pregnancy to 12 months postpartum.”

Campaign groups have welcomed the announcement as promising, but said that what needs to follow is action on supporting women for the entirety of that first year.

*Names have been changed.

This article is part of a project supported by the News Reporting Scheme.

The Journal Investigates

Reporter: Conor O’Carroll • Editor: Noel Baker • Social Media: Cliodhna Travers • Main Image Design: Lorcan O’Reilly