Carly Galpin
Minutes:
Many women experience moderate or worse mental health issues during pregnancy and the first 12 months after birth. Some will be due to pre-existing conditions, some will be completely out of the blue. This can be depression or anxiety sometimes as a result of the maternal journey due to the end of a pregnancy, death of the baby or trauma through the birth experience.
The cost of maternal mental health conditions is around £8.1bn and relates more to the child than the mother proving the extent the impact has on the next generation. Of those women who died 6 weeks to 1 year after birth, 1 in 7 did so by suicide. 20% of women will experience mental health issues 1 year + after pregnancy, this is higher in those with a pre-existing condition.
During 2016 there were 9,113 live births in the county, breakdown for mental health issues was:-
Postpartum psychosis – 20
Serious mental illness – 20
Severe depression – 250
Mild to moderate depression/anxiety – 800-1,250
PTSD – 250
Adjustment disorders and distress – 1,240-2,480
Covid has definitely had an impact over the last few years, not just with the women, but also within the maternity workforce with many facing burnout.
The specialist perinatal service provides assessment and treatment for those who have experienced, or are at an increased chance of experiencing, moderate to severe mental health conditions including
· Pre-conception counselling
· Medication advice
· Specialist psychological interventions
· Birth planning & postpartum monitoring of mental health
· Mother infant interventions
· 1:1 and group interventions
· Peer support – lived experience
· Referrals from any health professional
· Tokohobia (fear of childbirth)
· Loss
· Trauma
The Team had been in place a year now and was made up of:-
Consultant psychiatrists & junior Doctors
Psychology team
Wellbeing therapists
Perinatal practitioners
Occupational therapists
Nursery nurses
Support workers
Peer support workers
Administration
Midwives
The team engaged with Mental Health Awareness week, 2-8 May, with some webinars.
Aims for the coming year included:
Supporting 10% of the county’s birth population
Fathers & partners pathway
Engage with Baby Loss Awareness week 9 – 15 October 22
Continual work on development/delivering training on PMH
Continual work on develop/support charity sectors raising awareness and improve mental health disparity
Support 3rd sector re mental health disparities
The website had been refreshed - Specialist perinatal mental health | NHFT
Alex asked if they had connections with community organisations. Carly stated that they do especially with Home Start but wanted to expand especially with parent/infant connection services as many mothers needed support with bonding. They were also keen to increase the voice of 0-2’s in Northampton. They had done some engagement in the Central Library which had great diversity and wanted to do more meaningful work with tots groups etc. asking questions around mental health and wellbeing. Alex responded that there were some good play groups including in St James and Pearls of Peace which could be a good starting point.
Cllr Russell asked if any specific resources and support were available for same sex couples as they were easy targets for unpleasant remarks. Carly responded that anyone can be referred and they were working with a lot of same sex couples also offering support for family & friends and peer support worker to support partners. Within wider communities all Mental Health Services were trying to do the same and they were looking for some of the service users to come back and help shape services.
Pauline stated that the support around adoptions was very good but there was more disconnection amongst people since the pandemic and many had retreated into themselves. She suggested a leaflet that be out in the community in supermarkets etc, maybe on a factory type information board, so that the information was freely available and drip fed into people’s consciousness. Also perhaps groups in libraries and similar that people could dip into. Carly stated that they were doing a lot of work with groups across the county, working with them to help spot the signs and promote wellbeing but there was always more that could be done. A play group was starting in Pengreen in Corby for women open to the service so they could socialise.
Cllr Stone thanked Carly for the presentation and said she was heartbroken by the figures. During Covid women had been sent home from hospital with their new baby and no support which had a huge impact on both and the partner and they were still carrying the consequences. The Health visitor used to be the helpline so it was a red flag that they were not there. She asked who could make referrals. There were also a lot of community members who were getting pregnant without the traditional support of their family (such as the Afghan resettlement and Ukraine refugees) facing a huge cultural change which was causing issues to physical and mental health, a lot of which was being mediated through men – they needed to find their own voice. Family hubs were essential, a bid had been put into Public Health but had not been successful.
Carly responded that traditionally referrals were made by Health Visitors but there was currently a huge national shortage and they were having to see people on a targeted basis. Referrals were coming in from Midwives (who discuss mental health at every contact), and GP’s. The referrals were now coming in at an earlier stage. Midwives and Health visitors were the eyes in the community so the resource problem was a huge issue. There was access to interpreters but most preferred to use a female family member. NNC had been successful with their bid for family hubs and there was a lot of work going on across the county.
Anthony was the Project Manager for the team and did the co-ordination but was not a clinician. He worked in the background to ensure everything worked as it should with contacts, engagement and awareness raising, the website, organising webinars and social media outlets.
Pauline stated that that she was always getting pop ups on her computer about something – could that be a way of getting the message out. Anthony responded he would speak to Comms about targeted ads. They were more likely to proceed down the social media route than paper leaflets.