Mrs Micallef, herself a psychologist, is speaking out about her experiences with the frightening but little-known condition of postnatal psychosis in a bid to break down stigma surrounding mental health issues among new parents.

Sufferers of postnatal psychosis experience changes in thinking and behaviour, often delusions, hallucinations and paranoia.

Mrs Micallef's illness emerged when her son David, now eight, was about four or five weeks old.

"My brain pretty much shut down on me," Mrs Micallef said.

She was terrified that people would take David away and even believed her husband Andrew was part of a plot to harm their baby.

Mrs Micallef, from Wollongong in NSW's Illawarra, stopped eating and speaking, and could not care for herself, let alone her newborn son.

"It was just really awful, horrible, bizarre things I was experiencing," she said.

Mr Micallef knew she wasn't OK and sought advice, which led to a crisis assessment and treatment team getting involved.

The experience was difficult not only for her, Mrs Micallef said, but traumatic for her husband too.

With medication and a lot of support, Mrs Micallef began to feel more like herself after a few months and was eventually able to wean herself off the antipsychotics.

When she became pregnant with her second son, Joshua, she and Mr Micallef were "really proactive" and put plans in place should she suffer psychosis a second time.

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They worked out a plan with Wollongong Hospital, Mrs Micallef saw a psychologist to prepare, and they had moved back to the Illawarra from Victoria where Mrs Micallef had more social supports.

But she again fell ill, when Joshua was about the same age David had been.

"It's kind of insidious, how quickly it creeps up on you," Mrs Micallef said.

She remembers waking up one night with an "extreme sense of terror".

Having been highly vigilant about any signs of psychosis this time around, the Micallefs took action straight away and Mrs Micallef went to the emergency department.

From there she was admitted to a psychiatric unit, where she stayed for 10 days and was again put on medication to control her illness.

Mrs Micallef said mental illness did not discriminate and could happen to anyone - she had no history of it herself before she got ill after David's birth.

She had always prided herself on being self-sufficient, but she said it was OK to reach out when help was needed.

"It's meant to be this magical time, this joyful time, but sometimes it's not and that's OK," Mrs Micallef said.

Encouraging people to seek help when they need it is one of the aims of Perinatal Mental Health Week, which starts on Sunday.

Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia has seen a 51 per cent increase in calls to its helpline over the past year, for which it is believed COVD-19 has played a role.

"We have also seen more discussion about mental wellness and looking after yourself which has helped mums and dads recognise they may need help - and that's a good thing," PANDA chief executive officer Julie Borninkhof said.

Mrs Micallef has become an advocate in the perinatal mental health space in the wake of her experiences: she has advised on the introduction of mother and baby psychiatric units in NSW, and established a local Perinatal Wellbeing Network of health professionals.

On Saturday, November 13 she will host an event titled 'The Magic and Madness of Motherhood', a night in which guests can enjoy dessert, engage in open conversations about parenthood, and raise money for PANDA.

Tickets are available online.

Anyone having trouble coping with pregnancy or post childbirth can visit panda.org.au or call the PANDA helpline on 1300 726 306 between 9am and 7.30pm, Monday to Friday.

In an emergency, call triple-0.