Our specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service provides assessment and treatment for women who are experiencing, or are at an increased chance of experiencing moderate to severe mental health condition during pregnancy, and up to 12 months after having a baby.
Pre-conception counselling is available for those who have previously experienced a severe mental illness and would like to plan a pregnancy.
It's important that you get the right support. In the first instance, contact your GP, midwife or health visitor to discuss a referral into our service. Referrals can be made by any health professional working with an individual including midwives, health visitors, GP’s, hospital based teams, mental health services and some community organisations.
If you feel unable to ask a health care professional for a referral, please use our self-referral option. If you submit a self referral and haven't heard from us within 2 weeks, please contact us.
If you're experiencing a mental health crisis or mental health emergency, please seek further advice here.
- Feeling low or hopeless
- Feeling that you are not good enough or cannot cope
- Feeling withdrawn and not wanting to see family and friends
- Having unwanted thoughts or thoughts which you find distressing
- Not feeling connected to your baby
- Feeling worried, scared or like something bad will happen
- Obsessive thinking and checking rituals
- Having quick mood changes
- Feeling confused or having experiences you have not had before
It can often feel difficult to talk openly about how you are feeling when you are pregnant or have had a baby. Referring yourself to the Perinatal Services can be the first step towards getting the support you need and working towards enjoying life with your baby.
Please be aware that we are not a crisis service or an urgent care provider. If you require urgent help in a crisis, you are worried about risk of harm to yourself or anyone else, please speak to your GP, NHS 111 service or Emergency Services 999.
Alternatively, you can contact the following services:
- Derbyshire Mental Health Helpline: 0800 028 0077
- Samaritans: 116 123
Please complete the following information to self-refer to Derbyshire Perinatal Service.
Other organisations which may be able to offer you some support are detailed below. Please note these services do not provide urgent support in a crisis.
- PANDAS free helpline open 7 days a week 11.00-22.00 0808 196 1776 www.pandasfoundation.org.uk
- Connected Perinatal Support 01332 412561 www.connectedperinatalsupport.org
To be eligible for support from Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Perinatal Services, you must be further than 12 weeks pregnant, live in Derbyshire and be registered with one of the GPs listed in this document.
If you do not live in Derbyshire, please request information about local support services from your GP. Thank you.
Once you have pressed the submit button your information will be transferred to us securely and our administration team will complete the registration process. You will be offered an appointment for an assessment or will be placed on the waiting list for an assessment. An assessment is an in-depth conversation between you and a mental health professional to decide what kind of support you need, this could be ongoing support from our team or signposting to other organisations who can help you and provide you with information.
You will receive confirmation of your booked appointment via post or during busy periods you will receive notification that you have been placed on the waiting list for assessment.
If following your initial appointment our service is unable to offer you treatment at this time, we will work hard to provide details of more suitable avenues of support.