Perinatal Mental Health Community Service (PMHCS)
The Perinatal Mental Health Community Service offers community-based support for expectant mothers, birthing parents, and their families who are experiencing, or have a history of severe mental health difficulties. Our service is available throughout the perinatal period, from pregnancy up to a baby’s second birthday, for those experiencing or at risk of mental health difficulties and/or significant disruptions to the parent-infant relationship.
Our compassionate and dedicated team work alongside parents and families to receive the care, guidance, and support they need for a safe and healthy pregnancy and a positive postnatal experience. We focus on promoting well-being and preventing relapse, and help families navigate this important time with confidence and support.
We know that these difficulties can impact everyone in our community, and our service strives to reflect the diversity across Kent. Regardless of your race, religion, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and beliefs we are an open service for all. We are a safe space for all.
Whether you engage with our service or not, we welcome you to explore the resources available in our Padlet linked below. These are things that people we have worked with have found helpful in their perinatal journey, and we hope that they will be helpful to you too.
This collection of trusted resources is here to support your mental and emotional wellbeing as a parent or parent-to-be. You'll find a range of information, tools, and support services designed to meet you where you are, whether you're looking for professional help, peer support, or simply reassurance.
We recognise that you may experience overwhelming distress as a result of your perinatal journey. We work directly and/or with health professionals to support women and birthing people who are experiencing mental health difficulties that are having a negative impact on their day-to-day functioning and/or is impacting the relationship between them and their baby.
Our team offers specialist advice and support for a range of perinatal mental health conditions, including:
- Birth trauma and PTSD (including Complex PTSD - C-PTSD)
- Anxiety and depression
- Intense fear of childbirth (Tokophobia)
- Parent-infant relationship difficulties
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Psychosis
- Bipolar affective disorder
- Personality disorder
- A strong family history of perinatal mental health conditions
- Significant difficulty transitioning to parenthood, which causes distress
- Support transitioning back home from NICU/MBU
Pregnancy Planning
We offer pregnancy planning advice and guidance if you are planning to have a baby and:
- have a history of complex mental health and/or are taking medication for your mental health
- you are worried about the impact having a baby might have on your mental health
- have severe anxiety around pregnancy, childbirth, or becoming a parent.
If a professional recommends a referral, it's only to ensure that you, your baby, and your family receive the best possible care and support. It's understandable to feel anxious about seeking help—many parents worry about how professionals might respond and what it could mean for their family.
Please know that we are here to support you, not to judge. Our goal is to help you navigate any challenges while making sure that you, your baby, your partner, and your family feel heard, valued, and cared for every step of the way.
- Pregnant women/birthing parents or women/birthing parents up to two years post-partum currently suffering from or with a history of mental health difficulties
- Women/birthing people identified in pregnancy as being at high risk of having a relapse of their mental illness.
- Women/birthing people over the age of 18yrs
PMHCS will however offer a specialist perinatal mental health assessment for a young person jointly with the CYPMHS key worker/HCP and offer advice on care and treatment to the CYPMH clinician. As per the Transition Pathway Protocol between Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service, Kent (CYPMHS), Young People’s Wellbeing Service, Medway (YPWS) and Adult Mental Health Service (AMHS), the PMHCS will work jointly with these young people’s services from when a person is aged 17 years and 6 months.
Although PMHCS is unable to meet with individuals who identify with the experiences below, we are available to consult with the professionals who are supporting women/birthing parents (please indicate on the referral form if you would like a professionals meeting):
- Have a primary diagnosis of substance misuse or learning disability
- Women/birthing people who have been assessed not to be capable of independent functioning in caring for their baby in the community even with reasonable support
- Women/birthing people whose difficulties are due to primary, social and relationship issues in the absence of mental illness
If you are experiencing severe fear of pregnancy, childbirth and/or parenthood, or have previously experienced a perinatal trauma only (e.g. traumatic IVF, traumatic hospital admissions during pregnancy, birth trauma, traumatic miscarriage or stillbirth, traumatic withdrawal of your baby due to social care circumstances), our trauma therapy service, Thrive: Psychological Support for Perinatal Trauma and Loss may be more suitable. You can find further information here:
KMPT | Thrive - Psychological Support for Birth Trauma and Loss
We are committed to providing compassionate, professional support that empowers parents during this important time in their lives.
We are a multi-professional team dedicated to perinatal mental health, including:
- Registered mental health nurses
- Psychologists, parent-infant therapists and assistant psychologists
- Nursery nurses
- Peer support practitioners
- Occupational therapists and assistants
- Social workers
- Consultant perinatal psychiatrists
- Pharmacists
- Professional trainees
- Admin
Our teams are based in West Kent; East Kent and North Kent and cover the whole of Kent and Medway .
If we are suitable to support you or your healthcare professionals, we will contact you and/or them to offer a Perinatal Specialist Appointment. This meeting is an opportunity to make sense of your needs. Many of our meetings take place virtually using video technology. We can also offer face to face appointments where this feels safe and appropriate, and this may be in a clinic venue, a children’s centre, or your own home.
You may wish to invite a partner or family member with you to your appointments or share information with them so they know what may help. You may have a baby/child or children in your care and wonder if they can attend appointments with you. We are keen to see you with your baby/child and we can discuss the options together.
Perinatal Specialist Appointments
Perinatal Specialist Appointments provide women/birthing parents with the opportunity to meet individually or alongside their healthcare professional to access specialist guidance and support. Depending on need, these meetings may offer:
- Specialist signposting to appropriate services and resources
- Help in understanding mental health challenges through personalised formulations
- Tailored recommendations to assist healthcare professionals in providing the best care
- Consultation and expert advice on mental health concerns
- Support for parent-infant bonding to strengthen early relationships
- Access to multidisciplinary team (MDT) support within the Perinatal Mental Health Community Service (PMHCS)
These sessions are designed to ensure that women/birthing parents receive the specialist care, insight, and direction they need to navigate their perinatal mental health journey.
How to get the most out of the Perinatal Specialist Appointments
We know that talking about difficult experiences, especially to someone new, can be hard. Some people can find it useful to have a general idea of what we might ask about or be interested in; these may include:
- The reasons you were referred to us, what is feeling difficult
- When those difficulties started for you, and their impact
- Who is around to support you
- Relevant history of your mental and physical health and wellbeing
- What kinds of support or treatment you might have had in the past
- An outline of your earlier years and what growing up was like
- What you are hoping for and what you’d like to be different
We want to make sure you know that attending our offered specialist perinatal appointment, and what you share, is your choice. We would however ask that you let us know, in plenty of time, if you do not wish to attend.
If you would like any further information (for instance, about the venue or our team), or if there is anything we might be able to do to help you feel more comfortable to attend, then please do let us know and we will try our best.
How to get the most from your time with PMHCS
PMHCS supports women/birthing parents to have access to others who have experienced similar difficulties and specialist information and interventions that aim to normalise and validate distress and help them to work towards recovery. This may be in the form of online groups, groups in person and/or 1:1 with professionals.
It’s common for people to feel unsure about treatment, especially if they’re overwhelmed or feel they “should be coping better”.
Together with your Lead HCP, you will determine what would be most helpful and plan your time working with our service.
“You made a time which was so scary…feel manageable, lighter, even at some points something I could enjoy! Your kindness, support, thoughtfulness, help, and humour made every difference.”
“You have gone above and beyond for my family. I wanted to give up so many times but you helped me push through. My journey still has a way to go but you’ve set me up to start livening instead of just surviving.”
“You gave me wonderful opportunities to bond with (baby) and gave me confidence in my ability as a mum. Thank you for your time and kindness. I will always be so grateful.”
PMHCS would very much appreciate your feedback regarding your contact with us. Your views on the care you experienced will be extremely valuable in helping us to develop and deliver a service appropriate to the individual needs of birthing women and their babies.
Urgent Mental Health Helpline - 111 Option 2
www.livewellkent.org.uk - 0800 567 7699
Mental Health Matters - 0800 107 0160
Samaritans - 116 123
NHS - 111
GP and out of hours GP services
