Shifting the focus: From symptom reduction to social empowerment in perinatal care short title: From symptom to social empowerment in perinatal care

To critically examine the transition from a symptom-centric model to a social empowerment framework in perinatal mental health care by exploring the lived experiences, key facilitators, and structural barriers identified by childbearing individuals. A qualitative, hermeneutic-phenomenological study utilizing in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Urban public-sector maternity clinics serving a socioeconomically diverse population. A purposively sampled cohort of 25 individuals (12 antenatal, 13 p