Wet wipes packaging guides mums to depression support

A group of students at Leeds Beckett University came up with the idea, designed to help new mums struggling with feelings of isolation linked to childbirth.

The group, who are studying for the university’s MSc in Health Promotion, hope manufacturers will take up the idea after the made a prototype.

Postgraduate student and mum-of-two Sally Hall said: “It sometimes seems as if parenting is mainly about mopping up unsavoury things 24 hours a day.

“That’s why the idea of placing information about postnatal depression on wet wipes packaging seemed like such a good fit. I’ve certainly felt pretty desperate when flipping open the wet wipes at 3am, and I imagine many other parents feel the same way.”

The packaging carries a helpline number for the national postnatal depression charity PANDAS, along with the address of a website set up by the group.

Postnatal depression affects more than one in ten women within a year of giving birth.

But research has found that only half of new mums get the treatment they need.