The Maternal Mental Health Service works close alongside the community perinatal mental health service, maternity services, and community services to offer advice & consultation, signposting, emotional support and psychological therapies to women and birthing people experiencing moderate to severe/complex mental health difficulties directly linked to the perinatal experience.

This would include those with experience of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following birth trauma or perinatal loss (including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination), parent-infant separation at birth due to safeguarding concerns, severe fear of childbirth (Tokophobia) and severe fear of foetal medicine.

The team consists of Psychologists, Peer Support Workers, Mental Health Practitioners, and Specialist Midwives. The service covers the county of Somerset.

What we offer

The maternal mental health service provides assessment and psychological interventions for women who have experienced trauma or loss at any stage of their perinatal journey.

Psychological interventions can be adapted to suit the individual’s needs but may include individual therapy (impact of experiences on wellbeing and coping), Video Interaction Guidance (parent-baby bonding), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (trauma processing), Compassion Focused Therapy, Cognitive Analytic Therapy, and couples’ interventions. We can also offer advice, signposting and liaison as appropriate, for example to other local NHS services and charities.

Support offered by our team can be delivered online and face-to-face depending on preference, availability and need. The service operates Monday to Friday 9am until 5pm.

If you are experiencing a crisis with your mental health crisis, please contact Somerset First Response. This service is available 24 hours, 7 days a week on 0300 124 5016

Health Inequalities

We recognise that some women and birthing people face additional challenges in accessing the right care and support in their perinatal journey. As a service, we are particularly keen to promote access to women and birthing people from ethnic minority populations, LGBTQ+ communities, as well as people who are disabled. Please do let us know if there is anything we can do to make accessing our service easier for you.

Involvement of partners and other significant people

You are welcome to bring your partner, friend or family member with you for your first appointment. We will ask for your consent before sharing any information with friends, family members or carers. We believe that everyone in the family plays an important role in the wellbeing of the family. Therefore, working together to help everyone access support to meet their own individual needs can make a big difference.