Barriers to accessing perinatal mental health services and suggestions for improvement: qualitative study of women of Black and south Asian backgrounds.

Background: Maternity outcomes for women from certain ethnic groups are notably poor, partly owing to their not receiving treatment from services.

Aims: To explore barriers to access among Black and south Asian women with perinatal mental health problems who did not access perinatal mental health services and suggestions for improvements, and to map findings on to the perinatal care pathway.

Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020 and 2021 in the UK.