Becoming a new mother can be a wonderful, life-changing experience. It can also leave women feeling anxious and isolated - after all, so much changes with the arrival of a new baby.
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We're all feeling a little isolated and anxious right now, aren't we? Imagine bringing home a new baby on top of that.
For most women the period of adjustment after bringing a new baby home is temporary, and not excessively distressing. However, for some, the feelings stay longer - and become stronger.
This can develop into postnatal depression (PND), bad anxiety, or a mixture of both. In Australia around one in five women are affected.
We know of a few factors that increase the likelihood of developing PND or anxiety: a lack of support, feeling isolated or alone, and experiencing other stressful life events at the same time.
The demand for support during pregnancy and in the months after birth is likely to increase in due to COVID-19 restrictions, when friends and family are less able to offer support, and the world is generally a more stressful place.
But meeting that need for support doesn't necessarily have to come from organisations or formal health services.
Evidence shows that during those early, often challenging, weeks following birth, many new mothers benefit from talking to other women who have experienced and recovered from PND or anxiety themselves.
At La Trobe University we are investigating whether regular phone calls from such women decrease new mothers' risk of developing anxiety or PND up to six months after birth. Do the benefits only improve those early weeks, or is the effect longer lasting?
As part of a study called DAISY - Depression and Anxiety Peer Support Study - we're calling for volunteers from across Australia to support new mothers during those early weeks. Women wanting to become 'peer support volunteers' attend a four-hour online training session, before being paired with a new mother. Participants can live anywhere is Australia, as the support is delivered by telephone to women who have given birth in one of two Melbourne hospitals. If our approach works, it might be life-changing for new mothers, their partners, babies and family members.
It's a great time to step up, because new mothers need support now more than ever. To find out more email daisy@latrobe.edu.au or call (03) 9479 5428.
Della Forster is a Professor of Midwifery at the Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University
