MATRIMANAS digital app for maternal mental healthcare: A research proposal

Motherhood brings significant physical and emotional changes for women, often accompanied by various mental health challenges like stress, anxiety, and depression. A mother's mental health is essential for her own well-being and significantly influences her child's long-term psychological and physical development. Achieving SDG 3- Good Health and Well-Being is not possible if maternal mental healthcare, especially during the antenatal and perinatal phases, is neglected. Overlooking this important aspect of healthcare can hamper progress towards SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 10 (Bridging Inequalities). Unfortunately, women in India face numerous barriers to accessing mental healthcare, primarily, a lack of awareness and support regarding the range and severity of their mental health concerns, stigma associated with these conditions, lack of availability and accessibility of professional help, etc. The current paper is based on the crucial topics of antenatal and perinatal mental health, a decisive factor for the overall well-being of women, children, and families. To address the barriers to maternal mental health, a digital app is proposed as a way of bridging the masses' access to comprehensive healthcare and dealing with the existing lack of trusted mental healthcare. The proposed solution, integrating mental health sciences and computer sciences, can provide India with the means of achieving SDGs 2030. The App MATRIMANAS, currently a work-in-progress, shall combine standardized assessment and screening tools, personalized support, and help from trained qualified mental health professionals in the mode chosen by users, breaking the barriers of time and distance. It is proposed as a solution to enhance women’s access to professional services, reduce the stigma around mental healthcare and empower them to shape a healthy future for themselves and their babies.