Maternal Mental Health Services
Maternal Mental Health Services are NHS service which are made up of psychologists, psychological therapists, midwives and peer support workers. They aim to improve mental health and wellbeing for people and their family who have experienced trauma related to their pregnancy journey. This could be related to birth trauma, tokophobia (severe form of childbirth), birth separation due to social care or for those who have sadly experienced pregnancy loss/death of a baby. Not all services are open to all four pathways as these services are fairly new in England and may still be under development in your area.
These services are open to anyone who is currently experiencing emotional distress or mental health difficulties such as PTSD.
Support may include:
- Evidence-based psychological therapy, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Peer support either within the service or in the community
- Liaising with other professionals who are providing care to the person
- Including partners and family members in care when this is helpful
- Suggesting services that partners or family members can access for individual therapy or other support