English: I would like to thank the Children, Young People and Education Committee, along with the Chair, for their work on this inquiry and for the report. Perinatal mental health problems are very common, affecting around 20 per cent of women at some point during the perinatal period. They're also a major public health issue, not just because of their adverse impact on the mother, but also because they have been shown to compromise the healthy emotional, cognitive and even physical development of the child, with serious long-term consequences. A study by the Centre for Mental Health found that, taken together, perinatal depression, anxiety and psychosis carry a total long-term cost to society of about £8.1 billion for each one-year cohort of births in the UK. This is equivalent to a cost of just under £10,000 for every single birth in the country. Nearly three quarters of this cost relates to adverse impacts on the child rather than the mother. Research undertaken by the London School of Economics in 2014 found that 70 per cent of Welsh mothers did not have access to specialist perinatal mental health services, and Wales's only in-patient mother and baby unit closed in 2013. As the committee's report highlights, the Welsh Government have invested in perinatal mental health services. The recent injection of £1.5 million has improved access to specialist community perinatal mental health services, but as the committee discovered, there is an unacceptable variation in service provision across Wales. Mothers have a right to such services, and access should not be determined by the postcode. I welcome the committee's recommendations to establish a clinician-led managed clinical network, which will provide the necessary national leadership together with the expertise needed to develop both the perinatal mental health service and the workforce. This is essential if we are to provide a first-class service in every community in Wales. I also greatly welcome the committee's recommendation to establish a mother and baby unit in south Wales. NICE guidelines recommend the use of a mother and baby unit for in-patient treatment of new mothers. Since the closure of the Cardiff mother and baby unit in 2013 the care for mothers with severe mental health problems has been woefully inadequate, according to the British Psychological Society. The mother and baby unit closed not because there was no need for it; it closed because it was mismanaged. Insufficient funding and mismanagement of beds were some of the reasons disclosed to the committee. It is therefore imperative that we have a unit in south Wales. I greatly welcome both the committee's recommendations on this and the fact that the Cabinet Secretary has accepted those recommendations. I look forward to an update on progress shortly. This is too important an issue to drag on for months and years. I would like to once again thank the committee and the Chair for their excellent work on this report, and welcome the fact that the Welsh Government have accepted the majority of the recommendations. We now look forward to rapid progress being made as this year we will see between 3,000 and 7,000 new mothers suffering with a perinatal mental health issue, and without swift and proper treatment, the mother and child will suffer the effects for years to come. Thank you. Diolch.
Welsh: Hoffwn ddiolch i'r Pwyllgor plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg, ynghyd â'r Cadeirydd, am eu gwaith ar yr ymchwiliad hwn ac ar gyfer yr adroddiad. Mae problemau iechyd meddwl amenedigol yn gyffredin iawn, ac yn effeithio ar oddeutu 20 y cant o fenywod ar ryw adeg yn ystod y cyfnod amenedigol. Maent hefyd yn fater iechyd cyhoeddus pwysig, nid yn unig oherwydd eu heffaith niweidiol ar y fam, ond hefyd oherwydd y dangoswyd eu bod yn peryglu datblygiad emosiynol, gwybyddol a hyd yn oed corfforol y plentyn, gyda chanlyniadau hirdymor difrifol. Canfu astudiaeth gan y Ganolfan ar gyfer Iechyd Meddwl fod iselder, gorbryder a seicosis amenedigol yn costio cyfanswm hirdymor i gymdeithas o tua £8.1 biliwn am bob cohort blwyddyn o enedigaethau yn y DU. Mae hyn yn cyfateb i gost o ychydig o dan £10,000 am bob genedigaeth unigol yn y wlad. Mae bron i dri chwarter y gost hon yn ymwneud ag effeithiau andwyol ar y plentyn yn hytrach nag ar y fam. Gwelodd ymchwil a gynhaliwyd gan Ysgol Economeg Llundain yn 2014 nad oedd 70 y cant o famau yng Nghymru yn gallu cael mynediad at wasanaethau iechyd meddwl amenedigol arbenigol, a chaeodd yr unig uned mamau a babanod i gleifion mewnol yng Nghymru yn 2013. Fel y mae adroddiad y pwyllgor yn nodi, mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi buddsoddi mewn gwasanaethau iechyd meddwl amenedigol. Mae'r chwistrelliad diweddar o £1.5 miliwn wedi gwella mynediad at wasanaethau iechyd meddwl amenedigol cymunedol arbenigol, ond fel y darganfu'r pwyllgor, ceir amrywio annerbyniol yn y ddarpariaeth o wasanaethau ledled Cymru. Mae gan famau hawl i wasanaethau o'r fath, ac ni ddylid pennu mynediad yn ôl cod post. Rwy'n croesawu argymhellion y pwyllgor i sefydlu rhwydwaith clinigol wedi'i arwain gan glinigwyr, a fydd yn darparu'r arweiniad cenedlaethol angenrheidiol ynghyd â'r arbenigedd sydd ei angen i ddatblygu'r gwasanaeth iechyd meddwl amenedigol a'r gweithlu. Mae hyn yn hanfodol os ydym am ddarparu gwasanaeth o'r radd flaenaf ym mhob cymuned yng Nghymru. Hefyd, rwy'n croesawu'n gynnes argymhelliad y pwyllgor i sefydlu uned mamau a babanod yn ne Cymru. Mae canllawiau NICE yn argymell defnyddio uned mamau a babanod ar gyfer rhoi triniaeth cleifion mewnol i famau newydd. Ers cau uned mamau a babanod Caerdydd yn 2013 mae'r gofal ar gyfer mamau sydd â phroblemau iechyd meddwl difrifol wedi bod yn druenus o annigonol yn ôl Cymdeithas Seicolegol Prydain. Caeodd yr uned mamau a babanod, nid oherwydd nad oedd ei hangen; fe gaeodd oherwydd ei bod yn cael ei chamreoli. Roedd cyllid annigonol a chamreoli gwelyau yn rhai o'r rhesymau a ddatgelwyd i'r pwyllgor. Felly, mae'n hanfodol ein bod yn cael uned yn ne Cymru. Croesawaf yn fawr argymhellion y pwyllgor ar hyn a'r ffaith bod Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet wedi derbyn yr argymhellion hynny. Edrychaf ymlaen at gael y wybodaeth ddiweddaraf ar gynnydd yn fuan. Mae hwn yn fater rhy bwysig i lusgo ymlaen am fisoedd a blynyddoedd. Hoffwn ddiolch unwaith eto i'r pwyllgor a'r Cadeirydd am eu gwaith rhagorol ar yr adroddiad hwn, ac rwy'n croesawu'r ffaith bod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi derbyn y rhan fwyaf o'r argymhellion. Edrychwn ymlaen yn awr at weld cynnydd cyflym yn cael ei wneud gan y byddwn yn gweld rhwng 3,000 a 7,000 o famau newydd yn dioddef o broblem iechyd meddwl amenedigol eleni, a heb driniaeth gyflym a phriodol, bydd y fam a'r plentyn yn dioddef yr effeithiau am flynyddoedd i ddod. Diolch.