MP Chris Hinchliff quizzes Department of Health and Social Care on support for dads mourning death of baby
North East Herts MP Chris Hinchliff has highlighted the mental health issues suffered by bereaved dads after the death of a baby.
He submitted a written question to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting.
Mr Hinchliff, whose constituency includes the East Herts villages of Little Hadham, Braughing, Standon and Puckeridge, wanted to know what assessment had been made of the “adequacy of mental health support” for fathers and partners impacted by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby.
He asked about how support was provided to men through maternal mental health services, improving access to psychological support services and community mental health services.
Stephen Kinnock, minister of state at the Department of Health and Social Care, responded: “We recognise that experiencing baby loss can be devastating and we are committed to ensuring that all families receive safe, personalised, equitable and compassionate care.
“Specialist perinatal mental health services offer mental health assessments and signposting to support as required for partners of women accessing services. This contributes to helping to care for the 5% to 10% of fathers who experience mental health difficulties during the perinatal period.
“To date, we have not undertaken an assessment of the adequacy of mental health support for fathers and partners impacted by baby loss provided by maternal mental health services.”
Mr Kinnock added: “Mental health services within the NHS can support adults who are experiencing mental health problems because of baby loss.
“The Government has chosen to prioritise funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies.”
