Publish date: 8 December 2020

A new service is being piloted in North West London next year which will help women experiencing psychological difficulties following pregnancy loss, still birth and neonatal loss, as well as birth trauma and women who have a fear of childbirth (tokophobia).

The service will offer women a combination of psychological therapy, specialist midwifery input and peer support. There will be a particular focus on women whose early life experiences make them more vulnerable to mental health difficulties.

More than £700,000 of funding from NHS England & NHS Improvement will be invested by the NHS in North West London; creating new posts including clinical psychologists, specialist midwives and peer support roles.

This is an innovative joint programme between the North West London Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Programme and Maternity Programme. It is led by West London NHS Trust and Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL), and in partnership with the NW London Local Maternity System (LMS).

Around 1,500 women with serious and long-term mental health needs are seen in existing perinatal mental health services per year across both CNWL and West London NHS Trust. The development of this Maternal Mental Health Service (MMHS) will help around 350 women each year access specialist support.

The service will address a long-standing gap in provision, which the NHS Long Term Plan seeks to fill across all areas of England by 2023/24. This gap exists between interventions offered in primary care and community perinatal mental health services.

West London NHS Trust’s Principal Clinical Psychologist for the Tri-Borough Perinatal Mental Health Service, Nic Horley said:

“This is an exciting and innovative joint venture that will provide effective psychological therapies and psychologically informed midwifery care to women and families in North West London.”