It’s hard work preparing for the baby and the changes it will bring to your life, but it’s even harder once that baby arrives.

There are the initial challenges of ensuring your baby is well fed and rested. Then of course there are the challenges which come with caring for yourself and ensuring your partner and the rest of the family is coping with the new addition.

Then there’s the normal practicalities of running a household from working out what everyone’s eating to keeping the home as clean and tidy as you can manage.

These are the normal challenges of parenthood and don’t factor in the extra pressure faced by parents coping with a baby who is unwell.

Above all, the biggest challenge is to ensure your mental health is in check.

Knowing what we do about the high rates of mental health problems in Australia it’s obvious that childbirth can prove a difficult adjustment.

It seems odd then to learn that the NSW government has decided to spend $300 on giving parents a Baby Bundle that includes a number of items which most of them will already have.

The gift pack includes a sleeping bag, children’s books, change mats, breast pads and a muslin wrap among other things.

Anyone who has had a baby will already have many of these items and most first-time parents won’t be waiting until they’ve delivered their baby to source them.

It's pleasing to see the Baby Bundle didn’t ignore the issue of mental health thanks to the inclusion of pamphlets for men with suggestions on managing their mental health.

Minister for Women and Minister for Mental Health Tanya Davies said the Baby Bundle would act as an important vehicle to bring the mental health issue to the attention of new parents.

While Mrs Davies is right, perhaps there should have been a greater focus on this.

Perinatal anxiety or depression is a real problem for many parents, so you can’t help but wonder if the $300 would have been better spent on helping to provide better mental health support services for new parents.

Alternatively parents could have been given the money to use where it was most needed at a time when financial pressures may be providing additional stress.