Summary
The Perinatal Mental Health Service provides community-based treatment and support for mums/expectant mums/and or birthing parent, and their families. The service is available to mums/expectant mums/and or birthing parent during the perinatal period (during pregnancy and up to baby’s first birthday) who are experiencing, or are likely to experience mental health difficulties.
Our team aims to help mums/expectant mums/and or birthing parents and their families to have safe, healthy pregnancies, and supportive postnatal experiences by promoting well-being and preventing relapse.
Perinatal Positivity video
You can watch a short video on the Perinatal Positivity website raising awareness about perinatal mental health and the effects it can have on women and families. It is also available in different languages with subtitles; Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Lithuanian, Mandarin, Pashto, Portugese, Punjabi, Romanian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Tigrinva, Turkish.
Service information
The service is open to mums/expectant mums/and or birthing parents who are currently experiencing a moderate to severe mental health issue, or have in the past experienced a serious mental health issue such as:
- Birth trauma
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Intense fear of childbirth (Tokophobia)
- Psychosis
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Bipolar affective disorder
- Complex Trauma (including C-PTSD)
If you are not yet pregnant but are planning to have a baby, and you have a diagnosed mental illness or are on medication for your mental health, we can support you by providing pre-pregnancy advice and guidance about possible risks and treatment options.
The service provides a specialist perinatal focused approach to care, which includes supporting and working with the mother/birthing parent-infant relationship. However, if you have concerns regarding the bond with baby, you can contact our colleagues at ‘Together with Baby’.
The team
The team is made up of a number of professionals who specialise in perinatal adult and infant mental health including,
Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrists, Perinatal Speciality Doctors, Junior Doctors, Clinical Perinatal Psychologist, psychological assistants, Perinatal Psychological Therapist, Perinatal service managers, Clinical Perinatal Leads, Perinatal Practitioners, Nursery Nurse, Perinatal Support Workers, Perinatal Social Workers, Perinatal Occupational Therapists, Perinatal Pharmacist. The team also work closely with perinatal peer support workers.
Patient Outcome and Experience Measure (POEM)
POEM is a national perinatal outcome that was developed by the Royal College of psychiatry perinatal quality network.
If you have been recently discharged from our perinatal service and would like to give feedback we welcome any comments and suggestions you may have regarding the care and treatment you received. Please complete a POEM form using the QR code below.
Service locations
| Ashingdon Unit Rochford Hospital Union Lane Rochford Essex SS4 1RB | Pride House Christy Close Southfields Industrial Estate Laindon Essex SS15 6EA | The Linden Centre Pudding Wood Drive Chelmsford Essex CM1 7LF |
| The Derwent Centre Princess Alexandra Hospital Hamstel Road Harlow Essex CM20 1QX | Severalls House 2 Boxted Road Mile End Colchester Essex CO4 5HG |
Referral information
You can contact your GP, midwife, health visitor, care coordinator or mental health worker to request a referral to our service, we are unable to accept self-referrals.
It’s important to remember that, if a professional wants to refer you, it’s only to ensure that you, your baby and your family are receiving the best care and support to keep everyone well. Often, parents worry about seeking help. It can be worrying to feel that you need help, and frightening to invite professionals in, as it may cause concern about how they will respond.
We would like to emphasise that we are here to be supportive and helpful with your particular struggles, and to ensure that the voices of you, your baby, partner and family are heard at all times throughout our time with you.