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The Perinatal Mental Health Team is a specialist service focused on helping women at risk of developing, or experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties, during pregnancy and during the year following childbirth or require pre-conceptual counselling.

Service Manager Lead: Sally Simmonds
Service Contact: 01432 220445

Address: Belmont, Benet Building, Ruckhall Lane, Belmont, Hereford, HR2 9RP
Reception hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm, except Bank Holidays. if you have a query outside of these hours please email: Whcnhs.herefordperinatalmentalhealthservice@nhs.net
Reception phone number: 01432 220445
Service hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm, except Bank Holidays

About the service

About the Service:

Pregnancy and the period after childbirth are a time of significant change and transition in someone’s life. It is more common than you might think for mothers and partners to experience a range of emotions during this time. The majority of these difficulties resolve quickly, for instance, 50-80% of women experience baby blues at around 3-10 days after delivery and this comes and goes very quickly.

Some women experience significant mental health difficulties during pregnancy or after birth, even if they have never experience mental health difficulties before.

About 10% of women go on to develop post-natal depression, which often starts around 3 months after they have given birth. A more serious condition called post-natal psychosis may develop which often (in 1-2 women in every 1000 deliveries) requires a hospital admission. This is a serious illness.

We want to ensure that patient’s needs are met and families are supported. We work with a number of partners, including Midwives and Health Visitors, to ensure this is the case.

What we do:

Our team consists of mental health professionals from a range of different disciplines who are all highly trained and specialise in perinatal adult and infant mental health. These include:

Team Manager
Consultant Psychiatrist
Clinical Psychologist
Community Mental Health Nurse
Nursery Nurse
Occupational Therapist
Administrator

We will work with you to assess your needs and develop a plan to support you in meeting these. This may include psychological therapies, medication and advice and liaison with other services. We have strong links with local agencies such as Home Start, children’s centres, Hereford County Hospital, housing teams and social services.

Make a referral

Your midwife, GP, health visitor or other healthcare professional can refer you. If you are already working with a mental health team such as a recovery team, or Let’s Talk or if you are under the care of crisis team then they may refer into our service. We can work jointly with other mental health teams to ensure that your perinatal needs are met.

Download Perinatal Referral Form

Referrals can be sent to: Whcnhs.herefordperinatalmentalhealthservice@nhs.net. We are also happy to be contacted by professionals for discussion or advice about supporting someone during pregnancy or following childbirth. We aim to see 50% of people who have been referred within 2 weeks and 80% within 4 weeks.

Why have I been referred to the service?

There are various reasons why you may have been referred. Perhaps:
You have been treated for a mental health problem in the past and you are planning a further pregnancy or are already pregnant.
Your GP, midwife, obstetrician or health visitor feels that you may be unwell and could benefit from our help.
There is a family history of certain mental health problems, such as bipolar affective disorder or postpartum psychosis, which can sometimes increase the risk of mental health problems after childbirth.

Information for patients partners and carers

Perinatal Mental Health Patient Leaflet

Perinatal Mental Health Referrer Leaflet

Resources for the perinatal period

Perinatal Mental Health Experts by Experience Leaflet

Places to seek further information