New research reveals as many as one in 25 New Zealand men experienced post-natal depression.

Father & Child Support Worker Brendon Smith was interviewed on Newshub tonight.

The Growing Up in New Zealand study investigated depression symptoms in more than 3500 men during the third trimester of their partner’s pregnancy, and again nine months after their child was born.

It found that 2.3 percent of fathers (one in 43) experienced depression during the pregnancy, increasing to 4.3 percent (one in 23) nine months after their child was born.

Study author Dr Lisa Underwood, from the University of Auckland, says that while pre- and post-natal depression has been studied extensively in mothers, there has been little done to identify symptoms in men.

Brendon Smith says that it’s a big issue which often goes unrecognised.

“We can’t keep up. We can’t keep up with the numbers of dads for a wide range of issues.

But we know that this is the early intervention work that we wish we could do more of.”

Full story on Newshub: 1 in 25 Kiwi dads suffering pre- or post-natal depression