Overcoming the challenges of new motherhood is not easy. Mental health challenges are common in the first few weeks and months of the postpartum period. In Hong Kong, 40% to 80% of women will experience the ‘baby blues’ and 10% will experience postpartum depression (PPD). This is a guide to public and private providers of postpartum mental health care in Hong Kong.
Getting timely help for any postpartum depression (PPD) will go a long way to prevent any long-term impacts.
Public or free-of-charge postpartum mental health providers
In the public system, you will be assessed for PPD using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) by your Maternal Health and Child Centre (MCHC) nurse. After initial counselling by the MCHC nurse, if you are assessed as requiring additional support you will be referred to a social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist trained in PPD.
You will be assessed for PPD using either the EPDS or the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale by your obstetrician (OB), general practitioner (GP) or midwife. In the private system, you can either get a referral from your OB or GP or you can self-refer to psychological services.
The following providers offer mental health services in English:
Looking for health insurance? Want to better understand your current plan or healthcare options in Hong Kong? Contact our partner AD MediLink now at [email protected] or +852 2296 9773 for expert and unbiased advice. Their advisors are uniquely trained on the Hong Kong healthcare system to answer all your questions; on both the public and private sectors.
This article was independently written by Healthy Matters and is not sponsored. It is informative only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be relied upon for specific medical advice.
All Healthy Matters clinical content is medically reviewed and all of our content is fact checked to ensure as much accuracy as possible.
We have strict guidelines and only link to reputable government sites, media, academic institutions and, when possible, medically peer reviewed studies.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
