Julia Banks (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I make this speech here and now there are many women who are new mums in my electorate of Chisholm and across Australia who have suffered a sleepless night. However, their sleepless night is unrelated to their baby's needs. They also may be dealing with sadness, generalised worry, lethargy, constant crying, and a loss of self-esteem or confidence. Some of these women have gone from demanding full-time jobs and a fantastic career trajectory to being home with just baby. Their former control and command of their prior job only exacerbates their current feelings of helplessness, anxiety, uncontrollable emotions, and withdrawing from family and friends. Some have gone through enormous hurdles and emotional pain in numerous IVF cycles to finally hold in their arms what they so yearned for only to feel even more miserable for feeling ungrateful for life blessing them with their child.

These women are suffering from perinatal depression or anxiety, which can affect a woman during pregnancy and after the birth of a child. The wellbeing of a woman's mental health during and after childbirth is often not identified, even by the woman herself, as it is often counterintuitive to personal and societal expectations that this should be a happy time. Indeed, many of those struggling blame themselves, feel guilty and consequently feel very alone as they fail to talk openly and honestly about their thoughts, feelings and experiences.

There is still a significant lack of awareness, understanding or empathy in the Australian community about the signs and symptoms of this illness. As many as one in five expecting or new mums and one in 10 expecting new dads will experience perinatal anxiety or depression. Signals and symptoms of perinatal anxiety include sleep disturbance actually unrelated to the baby's sleep patterns, sadness or crying, persistent generalised worry, loss of confidence, declining self-esteem and withdrawal from family and friends. If these symptoms last for more than two weeks and negatively affect an expectant or new parent's ability to live a normal life with their baby, then it's time to seek support.

Under the superb leadership of Terri Smith, CEO of Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia, otherwise known as PANDA, a national helpline is operational to support women and families affected by anxiety and depression. I'm proud as a member of the Turnbull government that we have given additional funding to increase the helpline's operating hours by 50 per cent. If anyone is listening to this speech feels they may be struggling with this condition or have these symptoms, the national helpline is available to them right now. The number is 1300726306 from 9 am to 7.30 pm Monday to Friday. Please seek help; please call. The sooner people struggling with this seek support, the sooner they will recover. There is a highly trained compassionate person waiting at the end of that line—1300726306—who will provide you with a confidential and safe space to take the first step to recovery.

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