The Perinatal Community Service supports women with severe and/or complex mental health issues in the perinatal period.
We are able to offer, psychiatric, psychological and occupational therapy assessment and interventions, care for service users with moderate to complex or severe perinatal mental health problems during pregnancy and up to two years after giving birth.
We provide mental health assessment and advice to partners of service users as well as family, co-parenting, couple and parent-infant interventions and peer support.
The service also provides pre-conception advice for women with a current or past severe mental illness who are of child bearing age.
We aim to achieve the following waiting times:
Emergency referrals: within 4 hours
Urgent referrals: within 2 working days.
Routine referrals: within 28 days.
Preconception counselling: within 6 weeks.
Referrals
Guidance and advice can be obtained by ringing the Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team Duty Worker Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm excluding bank holidays.
Pennine telephone: 01254 612 731
Central and West telephone: 01772 520 733
North Lancashire and South Cumbria telephone: 01524 550 887
- Preconception advice for Service users who have currently or who have had in the past a severe mental health problem and are of childbearing age.
- Service users who are pregnant or who have given birth within the last 24 months with a history of moderate to severe mental health problems who may be at risk of relapse.
- Service users who are pregnant or who have given birth within the past 24 months who develop a perinatal mental health crisis. When this is identified, a referral should be made for an urgent assessment through the local Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team within office hours or through Home Treatment Teams / Mental Health Liaison or equivalent out of hours.
- Assessment, advice and treatment will be in collaboration with the woman’s usual mental health team with the emphasis in most cases being on providing specialist input rather than taking over care.
- Service users who are pregnant or who have given birth within the past 12 months who present with mild anxiety or depression. In these instances, a referral should be made through to access appropriate psychological therapies.
- Service users who have a primary diagnosis of substance misuse unless there is a comorbid significant perinatal mental health problem.
- Service users presenting exclusively with adjustment disorders in response to complex social problems.
- Service users presenting with exclusively adjustment disorders in response to traumatic birth, foetal loss or primary non-complex tocophobia.
- Service users who will not be the primary care giver.