Access To Perinatal Mental Health Care Should Be Universal Across BC.
Every Parent Deserves Support.
Every Community Deserves a Program.
1 in 5 moms and 1 in 10 non-birthing partners suffer from a perinatal mental health disorder.
Across BC, parents experiencing perinatal depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders face a healthcare lottery.
Some communities have perinatal counselling programs. Most don’t. Some families have insurance, but far too many do not.
Without Perinatal Help
When Parents Can’t Get Specialized Perinatal Counselling . . .
- Mental health symptoms intensify and become harder to treat
- Family relationships strain during an already stressful transition
- Children’s development can be affected for years, if not a lifetime
- Healthcare costs and other impacts increase as preventable problems compound
Bill M204 Raises Hopes in 2025
In May 2025, the BC Legislature passed legislation requiring annual reporting on perinatal mental health access. All parties agreed: universal access isn’t just good policy—it’s essential healthcare for new and expecting parents in our province.
Perinatal Counselling Is A Basic Need
“Through Rosehip Midwifery, I was connected with a postpartum midwife… She informed me about a counsellor affiliated with her services. Because it was covered under MSP, I was able to access the support I desperately needed.”
~ Darlene Rotchford, MLA, Esquimalt-Colwood
See Hansard Blues, March 10, 2025
But MSP Coverage Is Not The Reality
Sadly, perinatal counselling with MSP coverage is a rare exception. For almost all new and expecting parents in the CRD and across BC, it is simply not available. This is because the perinatal counsellor must also be a midwife, physician, or psychiatrist with an MSP billing number–something almost no counsellors have, let alone perinatal counsellors. But the BC government could extend MSP coverage to include certified perinatal counsellors. It’s just one way parents could be guaranteed access perinatal mental health care when needed.
Two Critical Barriers to Universal Access in BC.
BC’s perinatal mental health services form a patchwork. Access varies dramatically by region, insurance status, and provider availability.
As long-time service providers in the CRD, we’ve identified two key gaps that must be addressed to achieve universal access.
Gap #1:
Access to Perinatal Mental Health Counselling
For 35 years, publicly funded perinatal counselling served 200+ CRD families annually at no cost. When that funding ended in June 2025, access became a matter of affordability.
Our Care Coordinator now speaks weekly with parents who cannot access care. They lack extended health coverage. They lack disposable income for private counselling—even our low-cost intern option at reduced rates.
Yet these same parents arrive with physician or midwife referrals. The clinical need is clear: perinatal anxiety, depression, or adjustment disorders requiring specialized treatment.
The gap between clinical need and financial access has never been more stark.
Gap #2:
Access to Perinatal Psychiatry Services
Physicians and midwives report significant barriers accessing the CRD’s public perinatal psychiatry program. Referral constraints create treatment delays for patients requiring specialized psychiatric care.
The impact extends beyond individual parents. Untreated perinatal mental health conditions affect children’s development and family functioning—consequences that can persist for years.
Primary care providers need clear, reliable pathways to psychiatric consultation and treatment for their most vulnerable patients.
A Vision for Universal Access:
A PATHWAY TO ACTION
The CRD Offers a Proven Blueprint for Universal Access
The CRD’s community-based service delivery model developed over 35 years provides a concrete pathway toward universal perinatal mental health care in British Columbia.
Restoring access in the CRD—lost when funding ended mid-2025—requires more than local solutions. Sustainable access demands provincial commitment. Universal coverage would not only restore CRD services but extend them to communities across BC that have never had such programs.
The CRD experience offers the roadmap. The service delivery framework has been preserved through this transition. Clinical teams, referral pathways, and operational systems continue serving families through fee-for-service care.
The infrastructure exists. The expertise is proven. What’s missing is sustained public funding to restore universal access in the CRD and extend it province-wide.
Specialized Counsellors
Trained and experienced in perinatal mental health
Illness Prevention Benefits
Timely interventions when treatments are most effective
Accessible Intake
Matches parents with the right support
Scalable Model
Adaptable to community constraints and needs
Integrated Care
Works with primary healthcare providers
Proven Results
Consistent service sustained long term for 200+ families per year
Key FACTS
Research-Backed, Cost-Effective Care
Prevalence
20% of mothers and 10% of partners suffer from a perinatal mental health disorder.
Early Intervention
Prevention of long-term mental health complications through timely support.
Cost-Effectiveness
Research shows a 2:1 return on investment in perinatal mental health services.
Specialization is Key
Better results than general mental health services for perinatal conditions.
The Time to Act is Now
Today’s Reality
The CRD Perinatal Counselling Network continues serving families, but many parents can’t afford the fees.
Our care coordinator reports weekly conversations with parents who are either struggling financially to access care or going without support entirely.
Tomorrow’s Possibility
With sustainable public funding, the CRD model can expand across Vancouver Island and the province.
Every parent could have access to the specialized care that makes the difference between struggling and thriving.
Every Parent Deserves Support
Make universal access to perinatal mental health care a reality in BC.
Contact your BC MLA today to advocate for new parents who need access.
FACTS & RESEARCH
Key Facts & Research