Postpartum Depression & Maternal Mental Health: Why It’s Still Ignored

Despite the growing conversations around mental health, maternal mental health, especially postpartum depression, remains a blind spot in both our healthcare and workplace systems. While society celebrates women’s achievements in personal and professional spheres, the emotional and cognitive toll of motherhood is often invisible, underestimated, or ignored.

The Hidden Weight of Motherhood

History dictates that women's roles have progressively expanded by necessity throughout industrialisation, world wars, and currently, in the drive for gender equality. Motherhood, however, remains undervalued, particularly during its earlier years. The mental and emotional burden of new mothers goes far beyond giving birth. It encompasses the intellectual stress of perpetual surveillance, emotional labour, lack of sleep, and the constant continuum of decision-making attached to caregiving.

For new mothers, it translates into coping with infant care, family demands, work responsibilities, and the constant pressure of "bouncing back." This chronic overload is apt to cause postpartum depression, anxiety, and chronic burnout. Research shows that almost one in five women suffers from postpartum depression, but most of them remain undiagnosed and untreated due to stigma, unawareness, and inadequate support systems.

The Health Impact of Ignoring Maternal Wellbeing

Maternal mental health conditions left untreated have severe implications. In addition to emotional burnout, such mothers have higher risks of cardiovascular disease, anxiety disorders, compromised immunity, and metabolic disturbances. Burnout may present as dissociation, lack of motivation, and persistent fatigue, eventually affecting not only the mother's health but also the child's growth and household health.

Over 60% of working mothers still perform most household tasks even if they are breadwinners or have high-responsibility jobs. This "second shift" robs them of rest and recovery, piling up stress and deteriorating mental health outcomes.

From Awareness to Action

Treatment of postpartum depression demands a transition from passive acceptance to active intervention. Health care systems, legislators, and workplaces need to be engaged in this process. Universal screenings for postpartum mental health, therapy access, return-to-work programs with guidelines, and parental leave policies that accommodate all mothers are a necessity for the comprehensive well-being of mothers.

Workplaces especially need to redefine resilience; it is not about keeping quiet and suffering, but being empowered to heal and grow. Flexible working arrangements, compassionate leadership, and readily available well-being support can enable mothers to make a seamless transition and stay engaged in the long term.

Prioritising Mothers Is Prioritising the Future

When organisations make an investment in maternal mental health, they safeguard not just individuals but the fabric of society as a whole. Mothers sustain life and ground communities; their well-being determines the well-being of generations to come. Maternal mental health needs to be seen as the foundation of the health of our future, rather than being sacrificed in the name of productivity or progress.

This article is written by Dr Vikram Vora, Medical Director at International SOS | Views expressed by the author are their own.