We Cannot Separate Mother and Baby

One of the clearest messages I took away from the Marce International Congress 2027 was also one of the simplest:

We cannot separate the well-being of a mother from the well-being of her baby.

The Congress was held in Africa for the first time, with the theme Ubuntu — Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu: I am because we are.

Ubuntu speaks to our interconnectedness as human beings. There may be no better example of this interconnectedness than the relationship between a mother and her baby.

From pregnancy onwards, two lives are developing in profound relationship with one another. And that relationship continues after birth.

This does not mean that a mother and her baby are the same person. They are individuals, with their own needs, experiences and identities. But their well-being is deeply connected.

Maternal mental health is also about the baby

For many years, programmes such as the First 1,000 Days have highlighted the importance of the early period of life for children's physical development, initially with a strong focus on nutrition.

We now understand that the emotional and mental health environment in which a baby develops matters too.

Maternal mental health can influence a child's physical, emotional and developmental well-being. This is particularly important during pregnancy, when maternal depression and anxiety can interact with the developing baby through a number of biological pathways.

Research is exploring mechanisms including:

• the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and stress regulation
• inflammatory pathways
• the developing autonomic nervous system
• epigenetic mechanisms
• placental function

These pathways remind us that maternal mental health is not simply about how a woman feels. Her mental health can also form part of the developmental environment in which her baby grows.

And this is why supporting a mother is also an investment in her baby.

The baby also influences the mother

The relationship does not, however, work in only one direction.

Babies are active participants in their relationships from the very beginning. They communicate through movement, facial expressions, sounds, crying and eventually through increasingly complex social cues.

One presentation at the Congress described the relationship between caregiver and infant as a kind of dance.

The baby gives a cue.

The caregiver notices and interprets it.

The caregiver responds.

The baby responds to that response.

And, when the interaction goes well, they share a moment of connection and pleasure.

Over thousands of these small interactions, the foundations of the relationship are built.

But there is something else important here: the relationship is not only about caring for the baby. It can also be part of the mother's own emotional recovery and well-being.

A mother who is struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma or overwhelming stress may find it difficult to read her baby's cues or to respond in the way she would like to. This does not mean that she is a bad mother. It means that she may need support.

Supporting the mother can therefore help strengthen the relationship.

And strengthening the relationship can, in turn, support both mother and baby.

Even the baby's microbiome tells us something about connection

Some of the emerging research presented at the Congress offered an even more fascinating perspective.

Researchers are beginning to explore the relationship between maternal mental health, infant distress and the early development of the infant gut microbiome.

This is still an emerging area of research, and we should be careful not to overstate what we know. But it adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that maternal and infant well-being cannot always be understood as separate systems.

The relationship matters.

The environment matters.

And the connections between biological, emotional and relational health matter.

So what does this mean in practice?

It means that when we care for a pregnant woman or a new mother, we should not ask only:

"How is the baby doing?"

We should also ask:

"How is the mother doing?"

And when we support a baby, we should not forget the person caring for that baby.

For mothers, this means that looking after your mental health is not selfish or separate from being a good mother. Your well-being matters — to you, and to your baby.

If you are struggling, reaching out for help is not a failure. It is an important part of caring for your family.

For friends and family, it means noticing when a mother is struggling and helping her to reach support rather than expecting her to manage alone.

For healthcare professionals, it means thinking beyond individual symptoms and diagnoses and considering the mother, the baby and their relationship as part of a connected system.

It takes all of us

The Marce Congress brought many different areas of research and clinical practice together, but this message kept emerging in different forms:

Mother and baby are connected.

Their physical health, mental health and relationship influence one another.

And that means maternal mental health cannot be left to mothers, or to mental-health professionals alone.

Mothers need to be able to reach out.

Families and friends need to know how to support them.

Healthcare professionals need to recognise and respond to maternal mental health needs.

And societies need to value investment in the mental health of mothers and their babies.

Because when we support mothers, we are also supporting babies.

When we support the relationship between them, we are supporting both.

And when we invest in that relationship, we are investing in the health of families and, ultimately, in the health of our communities.

Perhaps that is the most practical meaning of Ubuntu in maternal mental health:

I am because we are.