Wellness
70% of UK mothers feel overloaded, study finds
Seven in 10 UK mothers feel overloaded and almost half have a mental health issue such as anxiety or depression, new research finds.
A survey of mothers’ experiences in 12 European countries also found most of those in Britain still do the majority of household tasks and caregiving alone, and that the UK was among the worst for motherhood disadvantaging a woman’s career.
The research was conducted by pan-European campaign group Make Mothers Matter, which surveyed 800 mothers in each of the 12 countries about the psychological impact of giving birth and the pressures of motherhood.
It found that 71 per cent of UK mothers feel overloaded, compared with 67 per cent across Europe, while 47 per cent report mental health issues including burnout, compared with 50 per cent in Europe as a whole.
Some 31 per cent of UK respondents felt motherhood had a negative effect on their career, higher than the 27 per cent average, with Ireland the highest at 36 per cent.
However, some measures showed UK mothers find it easier to balance work and caring. Only 11 per cent said their partner did not take paternity leave, far lower than the 25 per cent average across the 12 countries.
The findings prompted calls for GPs and NHS maternity and health visiting services to routinely ask mothers about their mental wellbeing and provide more help to those who need it.
Prof Alain Gregoire, a perinatal psychiatrist and honorary president of the Maternal Mental Alliance UK, said that despite improvements in NHS care in recent years, too many mothers were left “suffering in silence.”
“Much of the suffering maternal mental ill-health causes goes undetected, despite mothers’ repeated contact with maternity staff, health visitors and GPs.
“There’s a stigma associated with seeking mental health help and support, there’s not enough of that around, so women face enormous barriers to getting help, and health professionals don’t get enough training in spotting maternal mental health problems.”
He said easy access to talking therapies, which offer psychological support, would “provide an unstigmatised way of accessing help and relieve huge amounts of the suffering for mothers and families.”
Angela McConville, chief executive of the NCT parenting charity, said: “Pregnancy, birth and early parenthood are periods of heightened vulnerability, but significant gaps remain in the care and services offered to women and new parents, particularly after birth.
“After birth, women need services that provide localised mental health support, unbiased and evidence-based information, and regular, reliable touchpoints, from health visitors through to postnatal GP check-ups.”
“Instead, many women encounter a fragmented postnatal care system that is dangerously underfunded and understaffed, leaving them feeling isolated at a time when support is most critical.”
Make Mothers Matter said mothers across Europe are experiencing higher levels of stress, cognitive overload and emotional exhaustion today than when it undertook a similar survey in 2011.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Every mother deserves to feel supported when it comes to their mental health, and we are determined to ensure help is there when it’s needed.
“A wide range of support is available on the NHS for new and expectant mothers, including access to specialist perinatal services, talking therapies and help from health visitors.
“We are investing more in mental health services with an extra £688m this year, we’ve hired an extra 7,000 mental health workers, and we’re providing more NHS talking therapies.”
Small bowel microbiome differences between women and men may help explain why some conditions are more common in women, a study suggests.
The small bowel microbiome is the community of microorganisms living in this part of the digestive tract, where they play vital roles in immune function, metabolism and hormonal regulation.
Researchers found differences between women and men in the composition and organisation of these microbial communities. One bacterial community containing Granulicatella was found only in women.
The study was conducted by investigators at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University.
Ruchi Mathur, director of clinical research and clinical operations for the Medically Associated Science and Technology (MAST) Program at Cedars-Sinai and corresponding author of the study, said: “One intriguing finding was a bacterial community containing Granulicatella, which we found only in women.
“Bacteria in this community appear at increased levels in women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome.”
The researchers also identified differences between women and men in how microbes in the small bowel produce fructans, complex carbohydrates known to trigger digestive symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
IBS is far more common in women than men.
Mathur, who is also a professor of medicine, said: “Our findings show that biological sex is a critical variable in the small bowel microbiome.
“We must consider it as we move toward more personalised approaches to understanding and treating disease.”
Weight loss surgery was linked to more regular periods and fewer polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) symptoms in women aged 18 to 45 living with obesity in a recent study.
The researchers recommend that women undergoing the procedure have access to preconception care and reproductive counselling to support their reproductive health.
Researchers at the University of Surrey analysed data over 24 months from 84 women who underwent bariatric surgery and 18 women living with obesity who did not have surgery.
Of those who underwent surgery, 49 had gastric bypass procedures and 35 had gastric sleeve surgery.
Women who underwent metabolic bariatric surgery lost more than 30kg on average at 12 and 24 months after the procedure.
Among women with polycystic ovaries, the condition persisted in only 10 per cent after 24 months.
Women also reported a resolution of clinical hirsutism, or excess body hair, by 12 months.
Women who had previously experienced irregular periods reported more regular menstrual cycles after surgery.
Professor Martin Whyte, co-author of the study and professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Surrey, said: “A large proportion of those undergoing bariatric surgery are women of reproductive age, who may be planning a pregnancy in the coming years.
“So much remains unknown about the impact of this type of surgery on women who are planning to have children.
“This raises the question of when the ideal time after surgery is to conceive.”
Women have a higher prevalence of obesity than men, with 57 per cent of women in the UK classified as overweight and 27 per cent living with obesity, which can affect fertility and the health of an unborn baby.
The researchers said 17 women had healthy pregnancies following surgery.
Although this was not specifically examined in the study, no difference in birth weight was observed between babies conceived within or after the first year.
Dr Kathryn Hart, co-author of the study and associate professor in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Surrey, said: “What we have found is that bariatric surgery positively affects the reproductive health of women living with obesity and can improve the likelihood of them having a healthy pregnancy after surgery.
“Dysregulated hormone levels, irregular periods and conditions such as polycystic ovaries are affected by obesity.
“By reducing this, what we have seen is that it can lead to improvements without the need for medication.
“We would suggest that clinicians consider medical intervention for obesity to treat irregularities in the menstrual cycle and issues with fertility.”
Young women are more likely than young men to get health and wellness information from social media influencers, a US survey has found.
Among adults aged 18 to 29, 57 per cent of women said they received health and wellness information from influencers, compared with 47 per cent of men.
The Pew Research Center study surveyed 5,023 US adults and examined how young people consume health and wellness content online.
Local university students said influencer content frequently appeared in their social media feeds.
Kabija Koroma, a local university student, said: “It’s more exercise stuff, more like protein and like meals and like how to get ready and like the outfits of the day of videos on TikTok or lately. My favourite ones.”
About 51 per cent of women under 30 said they often consumed influencer content focused on beauty and personal appearance, compared with 18 per cent of men.
The study also found that 21 per cent of women often saw content about therapies outside mainstream medicine, compared with 10 per cent of men.
At least one-third of both young women and young men often encountered influencer content about mental health and weight loss. Around half or more of both groups regularly saw fitness-related content.
Another local university student, Ania Davis, said: “I see a lot like how to meal prep and how to get your morning started. Affirmations stuff. But I do also ask the adults around me because sometimes the internet is not right.”
Researchers also looked at why young adults sought health and wellness information from influencers.
About 51 per cent of young women said they watched the content because they wanted to change their health or lifestyle.
Women were also more likely than men to say they enjoyed hearing from people who shared their background or beliefs, at 23 per cent compared with 14 per cent.
Nineteen per cent of young women said they used influencer content to learn about topics they did not want to ask their doctors about, compared with 10 per cent of young men.
Despite regularly using social media, some students said they did not rely solely on influencer content when making decisions about their health and wellness.
Koroma said: “I’m always on TikTok 24/7 and Instagram, but I also like to ask people older than me because I don’t know everything.”
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