Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what public information campaigns his Department funds on perinatal mental illness; and how much such campaigns cost.

Alistair Burt

Perinatal mental illness is an important topic area covered by the Start4life NHS Information Service for Parents (ISP) which is led by Public Health England. The service includes information about health and wellbeing and includes short videos on how to spot the signs of perinatal mental illness and how to seek further help.

Advice is also included in emails at key stages of pregnancy and post birth for both parents.

The Start4Life ISP was developed as a universal NHS-branded resource to help provide support and advice for expectant and new parents. The service provides regular emails and text messages during pregnancy and for the first three years of a child’s life.

The total Start4life ISP programme budget in 2014/15 was £2 million and in 2015/16 it is £2.3 million. This is used to promote a range of relevant health messages for new parents and parents to be through the Information Service for Parents, the Start4Life website and other channels including materials for healthcare professionals to use with families, online advertising and social media.

Information is also available online via NHS Choices and can be found here:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/feeling-depressed-after-birth.aspx

“