Africa-Press – Botswana. The government’s continued effort in providing healthcare for expectant mothers has benefitted many.
This was said by Keitsholofetse Psycho Social Support for Pregnant Women’s Director, Ms Pontsho Kodisa during the Maternal Mental Health Day Commemoration in Kanye on Wednesday.
Ms Kodisa, who is also an award winning young leader, recognised for the 2023 Best Youth Promoting Health and Well-being by Botswana National Youth Council, said the wellness of a child was not only from eating well but was also dependent on how well the expectant mother’s mental health was.
According to Ms Kodisa, maternal mental health was a new phenomenon and was real and highly ignored from families to the broader community.
Therefore, she said she set up her organisation knowing the consequences toward a mentally challenged expectant mother, such as giving birth to under weight babies or miscarriages.
Since starting the non-governmental organisation in 2023, she said they had screened more than 500 women to date.
She added that in 2023, women who were at the risk of pre and post-partum depression were at 26 per cent while those who needed referral were at 36.5 per cent in 2023.
In 2024, she said those who were at risk were at 25 per cent while 33 per cent needed referral; whilst in 2025 from January to May, 18 per cent of women were at a risk of pre and post-partum depression while 43 per cent needed referral.
Dr Wame Chabalala from Sbrana Psychiatric Hospital acknowledged that maternal mental health was real, as many mothers were often left alone to nurse their expectancy conditions, which was often burdensome and ineffective due to an unhealthy mental state.
She highlighted that budget issues to expecting mothers could also cause distress, and that a good state of mental health could help such mothers mitigate challenges encountered.
Dr Chabalala said a good mental health would help in being a positive contributor to the community, as one may be able to provide fellow community members with good counsel.
Reflecting on health conditions, she said maternity blues often led mothers to mood liability such as being angry or irritable.
She said maternity blues were common and more than half or even 80 per cent of pregnant mothers experienced them.
According to her, struggling with sleep due to crying babies could be a factor that might cause maternity blues.
However, she said they were not cured, except that caregivers should understand what the mother was going through and offer support and re-assurance.
Dr Chabalala said post-partum depression was a low mental state or low mood that could either be a mild or a severe condition and often led to referral to Sbrana when severe. She further said Post-Partum Psychosis was a very rare condition that happened to a woman immediately after labour and was treated as a psychiatric emergency condition.
“This is because the mother might be a risk to herself or the baby due to display of abnormal behaviours and as such they need medical attention as soon as possible,” Dr Chabalala said.
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