Perinatal mental health services in Greater Manchester
Perinatal mental health problems can have serious consequences for the mother, her infant and other family members. Perinatal mental health problems affect at least 1 in 5 women, with 3-5% of women experiencing a serious psychiatric disorder and the single greatest indirect cause for UK maternal deaths in the perinatal period.
Examples of these illnesses include antenatal and postnatal depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and postpartum psychosis.
What to do if you’re experiencing mental health issues during your pregnancy
If you’re experiencing any mental health issues during your pregnancy, speak to your GP or Midwife and they can assess you and refer you onto one of our Specialist Mental Health Midwives or another service to provide you with advice and support. In Oldham, they may refer you to the Healthy Minds service and in Rochdale, they may refer you to MIND for further assessment and treatment.
Perinatal Community Mental Health Support in Greater Manchester
Perinatal community mental health support is available for women who experience high-risk mental health problems during and after pregnancy, and for their infant up to the age of one year.
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust provide Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) across Greater Manchester.
The Specialist Perinatal CMHT is commissioned to support women who experience high-risk mental health problems during and after pregnancy, and for their infant up to the age of one year.
The team will work to provide assessment, care and treatment including; the prevention, detection and management of maternal mental health problems that complicate pregnancy and the postpartum year.
The CMHT work closely across Greater Manchester with all Maternity Services, Adult Mental Health Services, Early Years Services, Primary Care, IAPT Services and independent sector organisations to ensure that all health professionals have access to specialist advice and guidance on supporting all women with mental health needs throughout the perinatal period.
How can people be referred to the specialist perinatal CMHT?
You can usually be referred by any professional involved in your care, such as: GP, Midwife, Health Visitor, Obstetrician, Psychiatrist or Care co-ordinator (community mental health team. They will be required to complete a referral form, which is available online: www.gmmh.nhs.uk/perinatal-community
Seeking Mental Health Support - Talk to Someone
How do I access perinatal mental health support services in Greater Manchester?
You can find more information about how to access the perinatal community mental health support team on the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT website.
Contact Information
Community perinatal mental health services are delivered in clusters. If you want to access the service, please contact the relevant cluster team for your local area:
Cluster 1 – Covering Stockport, Trafford, Central Manchester and South Manchester
Laureate House,
Wythenshawe Hospital,
Southmoor Road,
Manchester,
M23 9LT
Telephone: 0161 271 0188 option 1
Email: PerinatalCommunityMentalHealthTeam@gmmh.nhs.uk
Cluster 2 – Covering Bolton, Bury, Ashton, Wigan and Leigh and Salford
Old Trust Headquarters,
Prestwich Hospital,
Bury New Road,
Prestwich, Manchester,
M25 3BL
Telephone: 0161 271 0188 option 2
Email: PerinatalCommunityMentalHealthTeam@gmmh.nhs.uk
Cluster 3 – Covering Tameside & Glossop, Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton, Oldham and North Manchester
Floor 11, Hexagon Tower,
Crumpsall Vale,
Blackley,
Manchester,
M9 8GQ
Telephone: 0161 271 0188 option 2
Email: PerinatalCommunityMentalHealthTeam@gmmh.nhs.uk
Opening hours for these services are Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm.
Help in a Crisis
You can call the perinatal community mental health team office in working hours (Monday – Friday, 9am to 5pm): 0161 271 0188
Outside of these hours, you can access out of hours support for the following areas:
City of Manchester: 0161 271 0450
Bolton, Salford and Trafford: 01204 483071
If you are concerned about an immediate risk of harm to yourself or someone else, call 999 or attend A&E. If it is not an emergency but you require urgent advice, call 111.
Useful Information - Patient Information Leaflets
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust have produced some patient information leaflets offering more advice about their perinatal community mental health services.
Perinatal Community Mental Health Team Information Booklet
Information for Carers, Family and Friends Leaflet
Useful Websites
Online resources
There are lots of websites recommended by Greater Manchester Mental Health Foundation Trust which provide information and support for women with mental health problems during pregnancy and beyond.
Tommy’s - Mental wellbeing in pregnancy, patient information written by midwives
Action on Postpartum Psychosis – A national charity for women and families affected by post-partum psychosis
Beating Bi-polar – An internet programme that aims to improve understanding of the condition
Best beginnings – An app that guides you through your pregnancy
https://www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/
Mother to Baby - Information leaflets for women and their partners about use of medication in pregnancy and when breastfeeding
Maternal OCD - Support and Information for women with Perinatal Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
PANDAS - Antenatal and postnatal depression information and support for women and families
PND and me - Website and online support group for sufferers of perinatal mental illness
Maternal Mental Health Alliance – Information, advice and support about maternal mental health
www.maternalmentalhealthalliance.org
Family Action – Information, advice and support for families
Dad Matters – Supporting fathers in Greater Manchester
Proud 2 Be Parents – A service for LGBT+ parents and parents to be
Gingerbread – National charity for single parent families
Start4Life – A national website with a whole range of advice and support for parents and families
Improving Your Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
Mental and Emotional Wellbeing
Tommy’s website gives mums and mums-to-be some great advice on improving your mental health and emotional wellbeing during pregnancy and after you’ve had your baby.
- Talk with other mums – Find out about antenatal classes near you or chatting to other mums on online forums can be a useful way to overcome any fears and anxieties. Your midwife is also there to answer any questions you have.
- Exercise – You can still exercise during your pregnancy. Why not try swimming, yoga, walking, running or pilates? Exercise is a great way to relieve stress, help you feel good and sleep better.
- Mindfulness and Meditation – Practising mindfulness or meditation can help you relax and relieve any stress.
- Try complementary therapies – Complementary therapies like acupuncture, reflexology or shiatsu can help you relax and are generally safe to use in pregnancy. Check with your midwife first.
Exercise
Gentle exercise in pregnancy is good for you and your baby. It can help keep you a healthy weight and prepare your body for labour.
If you don’t already exercise regularly, why not start off with some gentle walking and build up the amount of exercise you do?
Health professionals also recommend yoga, swimming, running and low intensity aerobic classes. Other sports like martial arts, football, rugby, tennis, horse riding or skiing are best avoided because of the risks involved.
Check out the Start4Life website for more tips on exercise during pregnancy.
Healthy Eating
It is important to eat a healthy, well-balanced and nutritious diet at any time, but this is particularly important if you are looking to get pregnant or are already pregnant to ensure that you and your baby get the right balance of nutrients to help them grow.
Health professionals recommend that you eat a good mixture of the following foods during your pregnancy:
- Fruit and vegetables
- Starchy foods (carbohydrates) like bread, potatoes, cereals, rice, pasta and noodles.
- Protein – including meat, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, pulses and nuts.
- Dairy products – like milk, cheese and yogurt.
Check out the Start4Life website for more tips on healthy eating during pregnancy.
Smoking During Pregnancy
Quitting smoking during your pregnancy is one of the best things you can do to protect you and your baby. Every cigarette you smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, so smoking when you are pregnant harms your unborn baby. Cigarettes can restrict the essential oxygen supply to your baby.
Benefits of quitting smoking during pregnancy
Stopping smoking has immediate benefits for both you and your baby. When you stop smoking, you will reduce the risk of complications in pregnancy and birth, you are more likely to have a healthy pregnancy and baby and you reduce the risk of stillbirth. Evidence also suggests that babies are less likely to be born prematurely or be born with a low birth weight if you quit smoking. Stopping smoking also reduces the likelihood of your child suffering from asthma or other serious illnesses later in life. The sooner you stop smoking, the better. But even if you stop in the last few weeks of your pregnancy this will benefit you and your baby.
Support to give up smoking
Before you give up smoking, speak to your GP, midwife, pharmacist or specialist stop smoking advisor who will be able to advise you. Your GP may be able to prescribe you medication to help reduce your cravings.
Alternatively, you can call the NHS Smokefree helpline on 0300 123 1044 from 9am to 8pm Monday to Friday, and 11am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday.
NHS Stop Smoking services can offer 1-to-1 or group sessions with trained stop smoking advisers and may have a pregnancy stop smoking specialist. They can also offer advice about dealing with stress, weight gain and support the use of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) such as patches or gum, if appropriate, to help you manage your cravings.
Find out more about the effects of smoking in pregnancy, and getting support to quit, at Start4Life.
CURE Tobacco Addiction Service
If you are a smoker when you come into hospital to give birth, our specialist CURE Tobacco Addiction Service can provide in-patient support to help you quit smoking and they can refer you for follow on support via your community pharmacist when you leave hospital. You can find out more about our CURE team on our website.
Useful Contacts
Your Health Oldham - https://www.yourhealtholdham.co.uk/how-we-can-help-you/smoking-cessation/ - To start your stop smoking journey contact Your Health Oldham on: 0161 9600255 or Text “Oldham” to 62277 for FREE and we will call you back.
Living Well Rochdale - https://www.livingwellrochdale.com/service/stop-smoking/
Alcohol - Drinking Alcohol During Pregnancy
The Chief Medical Officers for the UK recommend that if you're pregnant or planning to become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum. Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, with the more you drink, the greater the risk.
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, premature birth and your baby having a low birthweight. It can also affect your baby after they're born.
Drinking during pregnancy can cause your baby to develop a serious condition called foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
FASD can cause problems with:
- learning and behaviour
- joints, bones, muscles and some organs
- managing emotions and developing social skills
- hyperactivity and impulse control
- communication, such as problems with speech
The risk is likely to be greater the more you drink.
Specialist Midwife Support
Our Specialist Midwives and ROMES team can provide support alcohol or substance misuse support for mums during and after their pregnancy. Speak to your GP, midwife or social worker and they can refer you onto our Specialist Midwife for support.
Alcohol support services
If you have difficulty cutting down what you drink, talk to a midwife, doctor or pharmacist. Our NCA Alcohol Support team can also provide you with a range of information and advice to help you reduce your alcohol intake. Confidential help and support is also available from local counselling services:
Drinkline – the national alcohol helpline; if you're worried about your own or someone else's drinking, call this free helpline on 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am to 8pm, weekends 11am to 4pm)
We Are With You – a UK-wide treatment agency that helps individuals, families and communities manage the effects of alcohol and drug misuse
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) – a free self-help group; its "12-step" programme involves getting sober with the help of regular support groups.