The cross-party report calls for more state and federal funding to fix practices labelled as ad hoc and poorly integrated.

The group of MPs also wants Victoria to establish a perinatal mental health plan to sit alongside the state's existing 10-year mental health plan.

"The evidence told a story of a perinatal services system that generally offers high quality care, but a system that also has gaps that need to be addressed," Wednesday's report said.

These gaps include the provision of perinatal mental health care, shortages in the perinatal workforce and a lack of breastfeeding support.

The committee earlier heard evidence that mental health support for new mums was ad hoc, patchy, difficult to access and poorly-integrated with other perinatal services.

It called on the federal government to reinstate funding for the scrapped National Perinatal Depression Initiative and for the expansion of state-based programs, alongside improved mental health screening and better training for practitioners.

Other recommendations include setting up a review of public hospital discharge policies in Victoria to ensure women receive appropriate support and the establishment of day stay lactation clinics.

Australian Associated Press