The perinatal parent infant mental health services (PPIMHS) is a specialist psychiatric and psychological service. The team is made up of three groups of clinicians:

• perinatal psychiatrists
• perinatal community mental health practitioners
• psychotherapists/psychologists

The psychiatric component of the service works with women with mental health problems during pregnancy and up to a year postnatally. The psychological component of the service works with parents and children up until the age of three to address attachment difficulties to prevent complex mental health problems when the babies and toddlers become older.

Perinatal psychiatrists can offer assessment and treatment, including advice on medication during pregnancy and while breastfeeding work closely with maternity services by holding joint obstetric/psychiatric clinics

Perinatal community mental health practitioners can provide intensive support and offer home visits assist in getting help from other services such as children’s centres.

Psychotherapists and psychologists work with the service user, their partner and baby together to help adjust to the changes that can come with pregnancy and caring for a new baby.

If the service user already has a care coordinator, they will remain involved in their care.

Contact our service in Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest

Barley Court
Goodmayes Hospital
Barley Lane
Goodmayes
Essex
IG3 8XJ

Tel: 0300 555 1119
Email: Perinatal.Service@nelft.nhs.uk
Opening times: 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday

Referrals

Please note: We will only accept typed referrals. All handwritten referrals will be rejected as handwriting can be misread, leading to incorrect clinical decisions. Handwriting can also cause accessibility issues for those using text to speech software.

Referrals will be accepted from any professional - most of our referrals come from social workers, GPs, health visitors, midwives, other mental health services, obstetricians, other perinatal services.

You can self-refer by email or by contacting our advice line on 0300 555 1119 between 12:30 and 16:15 weekdays. An administrator will take some basic details, and then connect you to a duty clinician who will speak with you and complete the referral form.