Birth Mothers and their Mental Health: Uncharted Territory

This article reports the findings of a study commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation which examined the experiences and needs of birth mothers who relinquished a child for adoption. Historically, birth mothers have been neglected in the British literature; their experience is considered to have ended at the time of placement. This research however, indicates the long-term implications of relinquishment are severe—particularly in relation to mental health. They demand that the complexity and uniqueness of relinquishment as a form of loss be more fully understood, birth mothers' reactions to those experiences are not pathologized and professionals learn to respond more positively. GP's in particular need to develop a more sensitive understanding of their needs and in so doing could prevent the medicalization of some birth mothers.