Pregnancy and becoming a parent can bring a mix of emotions, and it’s normal to sometimes feel overwhelmed. Maternal mental health problems can affect anyone during pregnancy or after having a baby.
This page includes information about maternal mental health, local support services, helpful resources and where to get help for yourself or someone you care about.
Our perinatal mental health services offer support for parents who may be struggling with their emotional wellbeing, helping you access the right care, advice and support for you and your family. Our Perinatal Specialist Service can work with mums and birthing people from pregancy until 24 months after birth.
Perinatal Mental Health iIllness is when someone has any mental health illness whilst they are pregnant and/or anytime in the first year after giving birth.
Maternal Mental Health Services, Silver Birch Hubs, work with mums at any point in their journey, they focus on the experience of birth trauma and baby loss.
We work in partnership with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) to support people across the region.
Natalie Patterson, Lead Maternal Mental Health Midwife and Joint Service Lead from Silver Birch Hubs, said: “Mental health problems around maternity are not always openly discussed or even recognised within our society and can be minimised or dismissed.
“It’s so important to make people aware that support, compassion and shared understanding is available for families navigating challenging reproductive journeys. Having a safe space to be heard in, by someone who understands their experience, and can offer support and intervention can be transformative for women, birthing people and their families.”
Referrals can be made by any healthcare professional, including midwives, health visitors, GPs, social workers, therapists or counsellors.
Visit our service page for contact details.
We offer pregnancy planning support appointments if you are thinking about, or planning to have, a baby, and:
- have a complex life history or mental health problems and are taking medication for mental health problems
- are worried about the impact having a baby will have on your mental health
- have anxiety around pregnancy, childbirth or becoming a parent.
You can call your local team to refer yourself for pregnancy planning, for all other services please speak to your GP or health visitor.
Please let us know if you need adjustments to suit mobility, language or other specific needs.
Phone consultation and advice for health professionals
We provide advice for any health or social care professionals working with women who are receiving support from primary or secondary mental health services and are either pregnant, planning a pregnancy or have a baby who is under 24 months.
