Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week: 4-10 May
Did you know 1 in 5 women experience mental health difficulties during pregnancy and for the first year after their babies are born?
Some women may already have a mental illness when they get pregnant. Others may worry because of past experiences, and some develop mental health difficulties for the first time during pregnancy or after giving birth.
Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week is all about:
- raising public and professional awareness of perinatal mental health problems
- advocating for women and families impacted
- changing attitudes
- helping people access the information, care and support they need to recover.
Download the Maternal Mental Health Alliance ’s Perinatal Mental Health Symptom Checker to discover the signs you might need support for your mental health during or after pregnancy.
Our maternal and perinatal mental health services
Perinatal mental health service
The service is run by a team of different health professionals who are specially trained in perinatal mental health. They work in the community and have experience supporting people during pregnancy and after birth who are experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties.
The service aims to support emotional health and wellbeing, as well as that of babies and families. It does this by helping people understand mental health difficulties during pregnancy and after childbirth, identifying problems early, and offering the right support and treatments that are proven to help. This includes specialist individual, couple and parent-infant support.
The Perinatal Trauma and Loss Team (PTLT)
The PTLT is a specialist team within the Perinatal Mental Health Service. The team is led by psychologists and offers expert emotional and psychological support to people who are experiencing distress linked to:
- a previous traumatic birth
- a strong fear of giving birth
- pregnancy loss or the loss of a baby
Many people have these experiences during pregnancy or after birth, and not everyone will need support from the PTLT. This service is for those whose mental health difficulties are having a significant impact on everyday life, and who may benefit from specialist psychological care.
Referrals
Referrals to the Perinatal Mental Health Service and the PTLT can be made by health and social care professionals. If you are worried about your emotional or mental health, or are unsure whether you need support, speaking with your GP, midwife or health visitor is a good first step.
Talking Therapies
If you’re pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months, you can get priority access to perinatal mental health support through NHS Talking Therapies. Help is available for mothers, partners and fathers, and you don’t need a diagnosis or to be in crisis to ask for support.
Help is available for concerns such as anxiety, low mood, birth trauma, or adjusting to life as a parent. This may include guided self‑help, group workshops or one‑to‑one therapy.
Your GP can refer you, or you can refer yourself online.
Perinatal Mental Health Team Resource Bank
For more information about perinatal mental health, including resources and where to find support, visit the service’s Perinatal Mental Health Team Resource Bank.
