Our specialist perinatal mental health service is for women who are planning a pregnancy, are pregnant or have a baby up to 12 months old who have, or at risk of developing, serious or complex mental health needs.
This video explains about our Perinatal Mental Health Service.
Roles in the Perinatal team and how they can support you.
A Perinatal Practitioner is a qualified mental health nurse, social worker or an occupational therapist. They support with first assessments and monitoring mental health needs. They make appointments to check on the wellbeing of service users and can signpost you or refer you to other services if needed.
They oversee your care. They look at risk management, diagnosis, support and review medication where appropriate.
Assist with the more practical issues (such as sleep, feeding, baby massages etc) and help mums with the general care for their babies. They help ensure that the emotional and physical needs of the babies are being met and engage in activities to promote the mother-infant relationship.
Our occupational therapists offer practical support and help mums on their recovery journey to regain and develop the skills needed for day-to-day living. They may provide long-term patient care and acute patient care as well if needed.
Peer Support workers are people who have experienced mental health problems themselves and they help support service users in their recovery journey. They also help improve the service. They are employed by the Trust in paid positions and receive the same statutory training as the rest of the team, as well as additional training to fit their role.
Their role is a flexible one. They do all the non-clinical work in the team such as sending letters, booking appointments for clinicians and helping clinicians manage their diary's.