The goal is simple: postpartum mental health care should last as long as it is clinically needed, with specialist postpartum support available up until school age where appropriate. A child’s birthday should never be the reason their mother loses the mental health care she still needs.

Postpartum mental health care should not have an arbitrary expiry date.

Many perinatal and postpartum mental health services have eligibility criteria based on the age of a mother’s baby or child. When that age limit is reached, a mother may no longer qualify for a specialist service—even if she is still experiencing serious mental health difficulties associated with pregnancy, birth or the postpartum period.

Research shows that maternal depression can persist for years after childbirth, and some mothers experience prolonged or recurring symptoms well beyond the traditionally defined postpartum period. For that reason, support should be based on a mother’s clinical need and recovery, not simply her child’s birthday.

A central part of this petition and the proposal I intend to take to Parliament is to extend access to specialist postpartum mental health care until the child reaches school age.

This would provide a longer and more realistic window for recovery and ensure that mothers who continue to experience postpartum-related mental health difficulties are not suddenly excluded from appropriate care because their child has passed a particular age threshold.

I am calling for a system where no mother is discharged solely because her child has reached an age cut-off. Where ongoing specialist treatment is clinically appropriate, she should be able to continue receiving that care.

The broader proposal calls for a nationally consistent standard of postpartum mental health care across Australia, including:

-Extending eligibility for appropriate postpartum/perinatal mental health services until the child reaches school age, where there is an ongoing clinical need.

-Regular mental health screening and follow-up after birth and throughout the early childhood years when concerns are identified.
Dedicated, adequately funded specialist perinatal and postpartum mental health services.

-Clear pathways between services so women aren’t left without care when they no longer meet one service’s eligibility criteria.

-Urgent intervention for severe postpartum mental illness and mental health crises.

-Greater availability of mother-and-baby mental health services.

-Continuity of care, so recovery—not an arbitrary time limit—helps determine when specialist support ends.

-Support and information for partners and families who are caring for a mother experiencing serious postpartum mental illness.

 

Why I am starting this petition

I am not starting this petition because of statistics alone. I am starting it because I have lived through the reality of postpartum mental illness and experienced firsthand what can happen when the support a mother desperately needs is no longer available to her.

My own experience has shown me that recovery from postpartum mental illness does not follow a set timeline. A mother does not suddenly become well because her baby reaches a certain age, and yet eligibility for some specialist services can be determined by exactly that.

I know what it feels like to reach out for help while struggling and to face gaps in the system at a time when both you and your family need support the most. It has made me realize how devastating those gaps can be—not only for the mother, but for her children, partner and entire family.

That is why I have decided I don’t just want to talk about what happened to me. I want to take action.

I want my experience to contribute to meaningful change so that another mother does not find herself without appropriate care simply because her child has reached an eligibility age limit.

This petition is about asking our government to recognize that postpartum mental health recovery can take years. I am advocating for specialist care to remain available, where clinically needed, until a mother’s child reaches school age, alongside better continuity of care and properly funded postpartum mental health services. This includes places like the Helen Mayo House of South Australia, and any other impatient postpartum mental healthcare services. — Mothers experiencing severe postpartum mental illness should not have to choose between getting the treatment they desperately need and being separated from their children. Where it is clinically safe and appropriate, specialist services should allow mothers to remain with their babies and young children while receiving intensive mental health care. Keeping families together can protect the mother-child bond, reduce the fear of seeking inpatient treatment, and ensure children are supported through their mother’s recovery. A mother should never be afraid to ask for help because she fears that receiving that help means losing the ability to be with her children.

I am doing this for myself, for my family, and for every mother who has struggled silently, been turned away, fallen through a gap in the system, or been told that the service she needs can no longer help her.