Listed below are the referral criteria for the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Team. The health care professionals who are looking after your care will use these to establish if you would be eligible for a referral to the team. If you have concerns about your mental health it is crucial that you speak to a health care professional, as soon as possible so they can put the support in place that you need.
- Woman with pre-existing serious mental illness in pregnancy will usually be under the care of adult mental health services. The PNMH Team will either advise on management and treatment or co-work with the existing mental health team, according to individual need and choice;
- Mothers under the age of 18 if significant perinatal mental illness dominates their presentation and they are likely to be the baby’s principal carer. In these circumstances the assessment, treatment and management of a young mother should be undertaken in collaboration with CAMHS and social services where a need is identified;
- Pre-conception advice to women with a diagnosis or vulnerability to develop a psychiatric illness considering a pregnancy;
- Women with a family history of serious mental illness;
- A serious and/or complex illness during pregnancy and the first postpartum year;
- Women with a pre-existing serious/complex illness who become pregnant.
