‘From maternity to inequality: evidence, consultation and context must be at the heart of the independent review into mental health’

Yesterday the Government launched an Independent Review into mental health conditions, autism and ADHD. It is an expert-led and evidence-driven effort to understand the rise in diagnoses, the pressures shaping people’s mental wellbeing, and the effectiveness of the current most common interventions. I know from my work to improve mental health support for women in pregnancy and after birth just how important this is. 

Being evidence-led about mental health conditions, autism and ADHD is not a luxury; it is a moral obligation. Without clear, robust data on what is driving increased prevalence, we risk misdirecting resources, stretching services even thinner, or missing opportunities to intervene earlier. Evidence allows us to design effective, compassionate systems, and it safeguards the people who rely on them.

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There are three aspects of this Independent Review that will be particularly important to get right. 

Consultation

First, I really welcome the commitment in the review to consult people with lived experience of mental health, ADHD and autism. Earlier this year, during my Your Voice, Your Future work-experience programme, a group of local young people shared their experiences and created a brilliant mental health campaign called “Breaking the Silence”. They told me that almost every one of them had seen their mental health affect their schoolwork, confidence or relationships — and that while awareness is increasing, “awareness doesn’t equal understanding.” Their campaign calls for mandatory mental health education in schools, with interactive workshops and peer-support networks. Their shared lived experiences spoke powerfully to the need for early guidance and intervention before young people reach crisis point. 

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Likewise, the mums and families who I speak to about maternal mental health have many ideas about how the care and support around them needs to change, whether that’s the mental health check-ins that I am campaigning to introduce through my Private Members Bill, or expanded community networks. 

Tackling inequalities

Second, it’s vital that the deep and pervasive inequalities in mental healthcare are examined carefully. Inequality is one of the clearest predictors of mental health in our country. People living in the poorest 20% of neighbourhoods are twice as likely to experience common mental health problems and rates of severe conditions such as psychosis are two to three times higher in the most deprived areas. Children in disadvantaged households face a four-fold increase in serious mental health difficulties by age 11, further contributing to poorer outcomes later in life. 

We see these inequalities in maternal mental health too. Women from the most deprived backgrounds are at the highest risk of perinatal mental illness, yet often least likely to receive timely support. Black women are twice as likely to experience mental challenges as white women. Young mothers have poorer outcomes than older mothers. A truly evidence-led review must confront these inequalities head-on, because our Labour values drive a determination to level them out. 

Context

Third, it’s really important that clinical approaches are carefully examined, but that these are put in a wider social, economic and cultural context. Housing insecurity, financial pressure, employment, online harm, discrimination, isolation and past trauma are among many factors that can contribute to mental health challenges. A truly evidence-led strategy must recognise these wider determinants and design policy and interventions accordingly.

I know this from my own experience of losing my great friend Sophie to suicide, shortly after the birth of her third child. I don’t think she had the right medical interventions, but I also saw how much other factors, like her isolation during covid, and the social and cultural expectations that we all experience around motherhood, contributed to her poor mental health. 

The fact that the Terms of Reference of this Review explicitly state the need to reduce suicide – a far too common and devastating challenge in society – is an indicator of just how important this Review will be. 

The Government has already taken important steps. The 10-Year Health Plan commits to placing mental health on equal footing with physical health, expanding school and college mental health teams, investing in mental health emergency hubs, and strengthening early support in communities. Ensuring that the changes we drive forward are underpinned by the most robust evidence, and that the subsequent interventions are the right ones, is a vital next step.

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