Perinatal Mental Health Service, Rochford

The Perinatal Mental Health Service provides community-based treatment and support for mums, mums-to-be and their families. The service is available to women 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 and their families to have safe, healthy pregnancies, and supportive postnatal experiences by promoting well-being and preventing relapse.

The service is open to mums and mums-to-be 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-infant relationship. However, if you have concerns regarding the bond with baby, you can contact our colleagues at ‘Together with Baby’.

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 and return by email to the team. Alternatively you can print and post your completed questionaire to the team at Ashingdon Unit, Rochford Hospital. Thank you.

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.