We began with a question…
…why isn’t perinatal mental health spoken about in the workplace?
In May 2024, the Maternal Mental Health Alliance hosted a Roundtable at the House of Lords, a convening of inspiring and diverse minds and lived experiences to discuss: why is perinatal mental health not acknowledged in the workplace, and what is the impact on people, on businesses and on the UK economy?
The Parent Gap was born from these insights.
Next steps for the workplace…
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Take the opportunity to help.
With support, the workplace can embrace their opportunity to provide effective support for all parents and carers. Workplace factors can exacerbate poor mental health, or they can play a part in detection and recovery during what can be a pivotal and vulnerable time of life: from conception, through to birth and beyond.
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Show that it's ok to talk about it.
Despite (much needed) progress in conversations and provisions at work for broader mental health, reproductive health and family friendly working practices, perinatal mental health remains silent, despite impacting so many. Include it in your policies and conversations and show those suffering that there is support for them.
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Have the tools to provide safe support.
Is your workplace a safe space to talk about poor mental health as a trying, expecting or new parent, or carer? Taking the first steps to providing a safe space, the right tools and ways to help can start with simple adjustments in your organisation to demonstrate that mental health matters.
The Parent Gap is the first dedicated perinatal mental health workplace certification programme in the UK, exclusively designed to break the silence in the workplace around perinatal mental health and to support employers to provide a safe, supportive space for people in their organisation from conception, to birth and beyond.
When the workplace can make or break us, our ambition is that the workplace becomes another positive force for change in creating more awareness, early intervention, making reasonable adjustments and signposting to support at every opportunity.