The interest shown in the Plunket Society's service for Dunedin women with postnatal depression, which began in February, shows there is a need for the service, Otago-Southland operations manager for the society Barb Long says.
The service for Plunket clients, which runs one day a week from the society's Macandrew Rd family centre, was supporting 12 women and was "going really, really well".
There had been some interest from women who did not use Plunket, but they had to be redirected to other services because the service was restricted to Plunket clients.
Fourteen women had received help since the programme started.
The support included parent education, with sessions on baby massage due to begin soon.
Such sessions were not stressful and were a nice way for women to bond with their babies, Ms Long said.
Women receiving support kept attending group sessions, which indicated that they were getting the sense postnatal depression "isn't just me and it's actually OK", she said.
A more extensive service had been planned for 2007, with $140,000 in funding expected from the Otago District Health Board, but that stalled when the board declined to fund it, citing concerns over future funding.
Fundraising, principally from AMP and the Zonta Club of Metropolitan Dunedin last year, allowed the more limited service to go ahead this year.
Ms Long said the service had enough funding to last two years and she was hopeful its success might lead to the funding of a more comprehensive service.
It is estimated postnatal depression affects about 13% of mothers.
