Please read the following statement from Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament for Saanich–Gulf Islands and Leader of the Green Party of Canada, recognising Maternal Mental Health Day:
“This Maternal Mental Health Day, I was honoured to participate in Flora’s Walk on Parliament Hill. This walk is named after Flora Babakhani, a Toronto resident and mother who tragically died in 2022 from a postpartum mental health disorder just months after the birth of her daughter. Despite perinatal mental illness being highly preventable, only 15% of pregnant and postpartum people receive specialised and evidence-based treatment. I support the Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative’s call for a National Perinatal Mental Health Strategy to increase public awareness and to prevent avoidable deaths and untreated illnesses.”