‘Stark disparities’: why black mothers are more at risk of perinatal mental illness in England

A Guardian analysis has shown that new black mothers are over twice as likely to be admitted to hospital with perinatal mental illness than their white counterparts. Photograph: x-reflexnaja/Getty Images

Perinatal mental illness affects more than a quarter (27%) of new and expectant mothers across England and covers a range of conditions including postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. A Guardian analysis of NHS figures has shown that for instances of perinatal mental illness that result in hospital admissions, black patients are more than twice as likely to be admitted than their white counterparts.

Part of the reason why black mothers are more at risk of perinatal mental illness is because black people are more at risk of experiencing mental illness in general.