The Federal Government will not extend a funding agreement with states and territories that funds care for women with perinatal depression.

Under an agreement reached in 2008 - the $85 million National Perinatal Depression Initiative (NPDI) - thousands of new parents have been able to access screening and counselling services to identify and treat illnesses in their babies’ early stages.

Figures show that around one in seven new mothers in Australia will develop depression in the perinatal period, and that suicide linked to mental health problems is the leading cause of maternal deaths.

But Federal Health Minister Susan Ley says the Commonwealth will stop contributing money to help by the end of the month.

It has caused outrage among state and territory health ministers, especially those from Labor-led governments of Queensland and Victoria.

Ms Ley has issued a statement claiming that the Commonwealth’s contribution to the NPDI was only intended for “training, up-skilling and service improvement”, not frontline services.

“The states and territories were funding frontline services prior to the National Partnership Agreement and it remained their responsibility,” the statement said.

“The Abbott Government currently invests over $5 million in frontline perinatal services and there has been no change to this.

“As the previous government introduced the agreement with no evaluation of its success, we will now conduct an evaluation of the program to determine the most effective way the Government can assist those with perinatal depression.”