FMCH-UK is committed to raising global awareness of the importance of good parental mental health during pregnancy and after birth — working to prevent perinatal mental illness and helping identify referral routes for parents who are at risk or in need of support.

 

Our Work:

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Perinatal Positivity:

Working with ForMed Films and other not-for-profit organisations, FMCH-UK co-produced Perinatal Positivity — a six-minute animation narrated by mothers and fathers sharing their experiences of perinatal mental health and the coping strategies they found most helpful. Sponsored by the Burdett Trust for Nurses, the film won the Innovation in Health Visiting Award from the Institute of Health Visiting and has been viewed many thousands of times worldwide.

Recognising that many parents in the UK do not have English as their first language, FMCH-UK first produced an Urdu translation in collaboration with the Royal Society of Medicine. Working subsequently with Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, the film has now been translated into 19 languages, making it one of the most widely accessible perinatal mental health resources in the world. All versions are freely available to view and download.

All 19 language versions are available at perinatalpositivity.org.

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Africa: International Conference on Maternal Mental Health

Since 2024, FMCH UK has partnered with the International Conference on Maternal Mental Health in Africa, supporting conferences held in Zimbabwe in December 2024 and December 2025. The UN and WHO are placing increasing emphasis on raising awareness of maternal mental health among women in Africa, and FMCH UK is proud to be part of that movement — advising and supporting initiatives at an international level. Perinatal depression affects around 1 in 4 women in low- and middle-income countries1 — a burden significantly higher than in high-income countries — yet only 1 in 10 women diagnosed in these settings receives treatment. (1)

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Our Memberships:

FMCH-UK is a proud member of the Global Alliance for Maternal Mental Health — a coalition of international organisations committed to improving the mental health and wellbeing of women and their children in pregnancy and the first postnatal year throughout the world.

FMCH-UK is also a proud member of the Blue Dot Project, raising awareness of maternal mental health for women in the USA.

 

Spotlight: The BUNDA Programme

A landmark in maternal mental health — from Indonesia to the world

In 2025, our sister organisation FMCH Indonesia launched the BUNDA Programme — Bersama Mendukung Ibu Sehat dan Bahagia, meaning "Together Supporting Healthy and Happy Mothers" — becoming the first organisation in Indonesia to pilot a community-based psychosocial support model for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). (2)

The need

A study conducted by FMCH Indonesia in 17 villages across Southwest Sumba and South Central Timor found:

●37% of mothers showed symptoms of trauma (PTSD)

●35% experienced anxiety or depression

●22% showed signs of psychotic disorders

●Only 6% of breastfeeding mothers were classified as having stable mental health

How BUNDA works

Rather than relying on specialist services that are often inaccessible in rural and disaster-prone communities, BUNDA trains existing frontline workers — midwives and community health volunteers — to deliver culturally appropriate mental health support using the Thinking Healthy module. Support is provided at Posyandu health posts or through home visits. In January 2026, 100 midwives and community health volunteers were trained across two districts, with the programme continuing to expand.

A shared thread

The BUNDA Programme reflects what FMCH UK has long advocated: that awareness, education and accessible support can transform outcomes for mothers and children everywhere — not just in high-income countries, but in every community where mothers need support.

Read more about the BUNDA Programme at fmch-indonesia.org.

 

Key Facts about perinatal mental illness:

●Perinatal depression is the most common serious health complication of childbirth — affecting around 1 in 5 women globally. (PLOS Mental Health, 2024)

●Mental health problems in pregnancy and following childbirth are treatable. (WHO)

●In low- and middle-income countries, 1 in 4 women experiences perinatal depression — significantly higher than in high-income countries, where rates are estimated at 10–20%. (JAMA Psychiatry, 2023)

●Only 1 in 10 women diagnosed with perinatal depression in low- and middle-income countries receives treatment. (PLOS Mental Health, 2024)

●Untreated perinatal mental health problems carry enormous human and economic costs — affecting women, their children, partners and significant others. (BMJ, 2023)

Who is at risk?

Any woman, or her partner, can develop a mental illness during the perinatal period — pregnancy and the first year after delivery. Contributing factors include:

●Poor emotional and practical support

●Exposure to childhood emotional adversity

●Exposure to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence

●Having an unintended or unwanted pregnancy

●Poverty

●Conflict situations or natural disasters

●Previous history of mental health illness

Effects on infants

Poor parental mental health does not only affect the mother or father — it has direct consequences for infant development:

●If a parent is unable to respond to a baby's needs due to poor mental wellbeing, the baby's physical and emotional development is compromised. (WHO)

●Poor parental mental health is linked to reduced sensitivity in caregiving and higher rates of behavioural problems in young children. (BMJ, 2023)

●Women with a perinatal mental health condition are more than twice as likely to give birth prematurely and 60% more likely to have babies with low birth weight. (BMJ, 2023)

●In low- and middle-income countries, the negative effects of maternal mental disorders have been directly linked to undernutrition, stunting, infectious illness and reduced immunisation completion in infants. (WHO Bulletin, 2013)

 

References:

1 Vora et al. (2023). Prevalence of Perinatal Depression in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. JAMA Psychiatry. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2802140

2 FMCH Indonesia (2026). BUNDA Programme launch. https://fmch-indonesia.org/fmch-indonesia-launches-indonesias-first-pilot-of-the-bunda-program-to-support-the-mental-health-of-mothers

3 PLOS Mental Health (2024). The global burden of perinatal depression: A call to action. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12798333/

4 The BMJ (2023). Integrating perinatal mental healthcare into maternal and newborn care. https://www.bmj.com/content/381/bmj-2022-073343

5 WHO. Perinatal mental health. https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/promotion-prevention/maternal-mental-health