Perinatal Mental Health Service

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 some occasions the team may continue to work with you after the first birthday of your baby and this is discussed on individual basis).

If you are pregnant and are experiencing, or are likely to experience, mental health difficulties where you might benefit from specialist support, the team can provide expert advice.

Where needed, they can help you and your family plan to have a safe, healthy pregnancy, and support you with your wellbeing and relationship with your baby.

Our team works in a compassionate manner and holds hope as a core value to work with you.

Perinatal Positivity, short perinatal health awareness raising films, available in different languages.

The below film clip raises 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.

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’.

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 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.

Advocacy services

You are entitled to help from an independent mental health advocate. Advocates are independent of people involved in your care. They can help you understand what you are being told by people involved in your care and treatment, and can help you express your views and ensure that your voice is being heard. 

Contact details for local advocacy services:

• Rethink advocacy, cover Essex, excluding Southend and Thurrock. 0300 7900 559
• Southend advocacy hub, cover the Southend are. 01702 340566
• Voiceability, cover Thurrock. 0300 303 1660

Interpreter services

Yes, if you require an interpreter for your appointments please let our staff know and we will arrange this for you.

Out of hours support

As part of your care plan you will have an individual crisis plan.   If you need support out of hours there are a number of things you can do, these being:

• Speak with a friend or family member who is supportive and understanding of your needs.
• Contact the Samaritans 116 123.
• Call 111 if it is not an emergency but feel you require urgent advice and support.
• If you feel unable to keep yourself safe please attend your nearest accident and emergency. In emergency situations, dial 999 for immediate help.

You can speak to any health or social care professional supporting you to consider if a referral is needed. 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.