Posted By: Karen Middleton
5th February 2026
3 minute read
Integrate, a new report from Anna Freud has been published highlighting a long-standing gap in mental health support for women and birthing people experiencing common problems, such as anxiety and depression.
While specialist perinatal mental health services are vital, they are designed for severe to complex needs, meaning most women don’t meet the threshold for access and risk potentially falling through gaps in the system.
The report calls for better integration of psychological practitioners into universal services, including maternity care, health visiting and family hubs.
While recent investment in specialist NHS perinatal mental health services has transformed support for those with the most severe and complex needs, too many, around 16% of mothers and birthing people, experience common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. They do not meet the threshold for specialist services and too often their mental health problems go undetected and untreated. Without timely support, these difficulties can have long-term and devastating effects on women, babies and families.
The gap in care for those experiencing more common difficulties needs to be urgently addressed. The Integrate Report focuses on the need for better integration of psychological support into maternity care to address this gap.
The integrate report sets out a clear case for change. It highlights the importance of integrating psychological practitioners into universal services such as maternity care, health visiting, and family hubs, services that all women and families should be able to access. This integration could:
If women and birthing people are asked about mental health at every one of the 16 contacts they have with health care professionals, someone might not open up the first time, or even the fifth, but we’re showing that person that their mental health matters just as much as their physical health and the health of their baby. This is imperative if we are to break down the stigma around mental health, and to normalise the conversation.
Not only is this approach is backed by the World Health Organisation, which recommends making mental health care a routine part of maternal health services, but economic modelling from the London School of Economics also suggests it makes financial sense. Over a 10 year period, a more integrated approach to maternity care with midwives and health visitors trained to routinely enquire about and assess mental health needs could save £490 million (£52 million in direct savings for the NHS.)
As an Alliance, we strongly believe that all women and birthing people need to be able to access support for their mental health.
Universal services and routine maternity contacts are the ideal place to ensure mental health support is given the same priority as physical health. Every appointment during and after pregnancy is a chance to do a mental health check-in. However, with unclear referral pathways and overstretched perinatal mental health services, it can sometimes be difficult to know where to send expectant parents if you think they’re in need of mental health support.
By embedding mental health professionals within maternity care, support can be better joined up. This “integrated model” of care ensures mental health is not an afterthought. It can be a core part of routine care, just like checking blood pressure, testing for gestational diabetes, or monitoring a baby’s growth.
This links closely to our other work around holistic maternity care, including the maternity and neonatal investigation and the maternity care bundle.
When we talk about holistic care, we mean care that supports mental health as much as physical health, and this integration is a practical way to deliver that.
"Research has long shown that women and birthing people throughout the UK are suffering high levels of mental health problems that have a profound impact on them, their children and their families. The NHS has made big improvements in care in the past few years, but the majority of women and birthing people, who need only relatively simple forms of care, are not getting it.
Perinatal mental health care relies on the commitment and expertise of many dedicated healthcare professionals working across mental health, maternity, health visiting and other services. Health visitors, for example, have a clear mandate for perinatal and infant mental health as a core part of their role, underpinned by strong evidence of the clinical and cost‑effectiveness of health visitor‑led interventions. However, in many areas of the country, families are not getting the mental health support they need because health visiting services lack the capacity, protected time and access to ongoing training to deliver this care consistently.
Investing in and strengthening health visiting, maternity and perinatal mental health services to work together within an integrated system would reduce suffering, improve outcomes for families, and deliver long‑term value for the NHS."
Nikki Wilson, CEO, MMHA
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