Isolated, overwhelmed and hours from a psychologist: regional Australia facing a perinatal health crisis

One in five women suffer from perinatal anxiety and depression but only one in 10 receive treatment – and the risk is higher in regional areas

Getting a psychologist’s appointment in regional Tasmania is difficult. It took Stephanie Trethewey more than a year after the birth of her second child to secure one of the rare slots with the visiting psychologist at a local doctor’s office.

“When I finally got an appointment, I turned up and they’d accidentally booked me under podiatry instead of psychology,” she says.

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Category: Mental Health