Two senior SNP government ministers visited Dundee’s Carseview mental health centre in a move campaigners hope will lead to better care for women.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and social care minister Maree Todd were at the centre days before an Angus mum’s petition is discussed again at Holyrood, The Courier can reveal.
The woman behind the petition, Margaret Reid, took action after watching her sister struggle with postpartum psychosis, which developed after giving birth to her baby girl six years ago.
She wants a specialist mother and baby unit to be set up beyond the central belt with better access to people in Tayside and the north-east.
Better access across Tayside
The petition also calls for mothers to get access to the targeted centres beyond the restrictive one-year eligibility, reducing the chance of having to go to mixed mental health institutions.
Ms Reid previously met Ms Forbes to discuss the trauma and hopes the latest visit will lead to improvements.
“Kate Forbes was open with me in the past about her own experiences of childbirth and I think she sympathised with my sister’s,” she said.
“But this is not just for my sister, it’s for women in general and I hope the Scottish Government will do something about it.”
Ms Reid’s sister, Lesley McArthur, who lives in Dundee, became unwell weeks after the premature birth of her daughter in January 2019.
She went to a specialist mother and baby unit in Livingston where she received “exceptional” care and was able to be with her baby.
After the relapse, more than a year after giving birth, she was sectioned and spend time at Carseview.
The petition at Holyrood describes the experience as like “living in a nightmare”.
Ms Reid added: “That’s sometimes when problems start to emerge, after a year.
“It’s not good enough to send women to places like Carseview at that point.”
Ms Forbes previously shared her own experience of postnatal depression in a frank interview with The Courier’s regular politics podcast, The Stooshie.
The senior MSP said she was left feeling an “intense sadness I would never escape from”. She praised the NHS for supporting her back to health at the time.
North East Tory MSP Tess White has supported Ms Reid through the campaign and joined her in an earlier meeting to make the case for change with the deputy first minister.
“Following the influential Strang review, it is important for senior SNP government figures to see the challenges faced by staff and patients on a daily basis,” Ms White said.
“It should also underline the importance of postnatal mental health care.”
Greater understanding
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The deputy first minister joined the minister for social care, mental wellbeing and sport on one of her regular visits to mental health facilities, at the Carseview Centre in Dundee on Tuesday.
“This visit helped the ministers gain a greater understanding of how services in Tayside are working, particularly perinatal and infant mental health.
“We are continuing to support NHS Tayside in developing high-quality mental health care and this visit will help inform that work.”
The petition will be heard on Wednesday at the Scottish Parliament.
Conversation