What can family members of pregnant and postpartum women do to help them?

Be aware of the signs of excessive anxiety or psychological distress.
Try not to minimise the woman’s worries—tell her it’s natural for her to feel this way.
Try to address some of the concerns and encourage her to talk to her healthcare provider about her worries, rather than stressing over them herself.
Ensure she follows a routine and engage her in interesting conversations.
Find some activity that you can do together like playing a game, doing a craft or telling stories.
Ensure you have a copy of her reports and hospital card or the baby’s card and tell her that you have them readily available. Discuss a plan for handling a situation in case she has pain, bleeding or she goes into labour. Create a plan for support with baby care if the lockdown continues.
Teach her simple methods of relaxing and do them with her
If you feel anxious, try to talk to someone else about it and try not to add to her anxieties
Ensure that a mother with a newborn baby gets adequate sleep and help, with baby care. Encourage her to sing to the baby and play with the baby and decrease screen time.
Some of the routine childbirth-related rituals may not be possible due to the lockdown or social isolation drive. Try to find other simple ways of celebrating at home, such as creating a memory book of the baby’s first month and writing down messages from friends, grandparents and relatives, or get them to record music or lullabies or messages and send them to the mother and baby. These small activities will help the mother to feel connected even if her parents or partner cannot be nearby.

My maternal mental health story

White Swan Foundation