Pregnant women and new mums are to receive a mental health funding boost, NHS England has announced.

Twenty areas across Britain will receive the funding, following fears that pregnant women and new mothers are not getting the support they need.

NHS England will spend £40 million on doctors and other specialist mental health workers as part of its campaign to reach 30,000 more women by 2021.

Figures show that as many as one in five women experience severe depression or psychosis around the time of childbirth.

Childbirth charity NCT said the funding was welcome but there was still a long way to go to help all of the 140,000 women every year in the UK who suffer from mental health problems when they are pregnant or during the year after they give birth.

Elizabeth Duff, NCT senior policy adviser, said their research found that only 3 per cent of NHS local commissioning groups had a perinatal mental health strategy.

“We’re particularly pleased to see plans to enable mothers who have experienced similar issues to help others.

“Peer support can be a really powerful way to further break the stigma around perinatal mental health.”

NHS England also announced that anyone who walks through the doors of A&E in a mental health crisis should be seen by a specialist mental health professional within an hour of being referred.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “Patients in crisis and expectant and new mothers who are suffering from severe mental health problems need urgent support and care.

“So this investment is fantastic news and will help make sure patients get the care they need, when they need it.”