Petitions Committee questioned experts on maternal mental health, adoption and childcare
20 May 2020
This Mental Health Awareness Week, the Petitions Committee held an evidence session on the impact of lockdown on maternal mental health, access to childcare, and maternity pay.
The evidence session, held at 9.30am on Thursday 21 May, followed the Petitions Committee's previous evidence session prompted by a petition calling on the Government to 'Extend maternity leave by 3 months with pay in light of COVID-19', which has gathered over 220,000 signatures.
The session was part of the Petitions Committee's ongoing inquiry into coronavirus. Recently, a series of parliamentary petitions relating to coronavirus have received more than 3.6 million signatures.
- Watch the session
- Read the transcript
- Read what parents and childcare providers have told us
- Find out about the Petitions Committee's inquiry into coronavirus
- Find out more about the Petitions Committee
To address these crucial issues, the Petitions Committee question:ed
- Neil Leitch - Chief Executive of the Early Years Alliance
- Josie Anderson - Campaigns and Policy Manager for Bliss
- Sue Armstrong Brown - Chief Executive of Adoption UK
- Dr Trudi Seneviratne - Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Faculty of Perinatal Psychiatry
- Alain Gregoire - Chair of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance
The Committee's questions on this issue were informed by three surveys of petitioners which have received over 43,200 responses altogether, so far.
Further information
Image: Pixabay