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Perinatal Community Mental Health Services in Norfolk

  • The Perinatal Community Mental Health Services for Norfolk provides continuity of care to women and their babies in Norfolk. The team includes specialist nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, nursery nurses and peer support workers.

  • Service Manager Lead: Melinda Bird
  • Service Contact: 01603 786781
  • Address:
    Kingfisher Ward,  Hellesdon Hospital, Norwich, NR6 5BE
  • Reception hours: Mondays to Fridays, 9am-5pm.

What this service offers

If a woman has a complex or severe mental health problem during her pregnancy or post-birth, she could get help from community mental health teams. These services offer psychiatric and psychological assessments and care.   

The team also provides advice for women with a current or past complex or severe mental health problem who are planning a pregnancy.    

The team offers assessments, therapeutic supports and group activities. We involve partners as well as families in our intervention strategies.    

The Perinatal Community Mental Health Services team is part of a wider system of care working with women and families. Service partners are crucial as part of supporting good mental health. The team works with midwives, health visitors, specialist midwives, family partnership nurses, social services and other social and health care agencies. This helps to identify potential issues requiring specialist support. We can refer people to the appropriate services.  

We treat the following conditions:   

  • Ante-natal depression, anxiety, OCD and other symptoms which may not have been present before the pregnancy.   

  • Women with longstanding and enduring conditions including Bipolar Disorder, Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD), Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Eating Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other conditions.   

  • Women who experience post-natal depression, psychosis, OCD, severe anxieties, PTSD and other conditions. They may not have had any mental health concerns before giving birth.  

 

Leaflet Perinatal Community Mental Health Team - Service User (Leaflet).pdf [pdf] 88KB

Access this service

Referrals are available via GPs, community midwives, social workers, health visitors, other mental health services or other agencies. If a woman has received services in the past, she can self-refer at the next pregnancy.  

When we receive a referral, we will do a triage of the person's situation. We will phone the woman to get more information about the person’s mental health situation and needs. We will speak to the referrer if we need more information to help us decide whether the person needs specialist help. If the person does not meet the criteria, we can refer to another service. This could be the Wellbeing Service. We have a joint arrangement with the Wellbeing Service who offer priority attention to pregnant or post-natal women.    

If the individual needs a specialist perinatal mental health assessment we will book this and send a letter to confirm the date and time. A perinatal consultant psychiatrist may attend this appointment. We may signpost the person to other services. If their mental health situation gets worse, a referral can be sent again. Also, the individual may contact our office and ask that we review their situation. 

Visiting and onsite facilities

Free parking, including disabled spaces, is available on site.  

Our office is disability friendly, including the toilet facilities.  

A water cooler is available and we have a cafe on our Hellesdon site. 

How this service support carers including friends and family

We are developing some support for partners. We signpost partners to their GPs if they need formal mental health support. We refer partners or family members to Carer’s Support Services if they wish to be assessed as a carer.  

We support partners and families by including them in the Care Plan process, all appointments and other activities. 

Urgent help

If you are a service user and are in crisis and need support urgently you can contact your service on the number which will have been provided.  

Call 111 and select the mental health option to speak to our 24 hour mental health crisis line.

If you are with someone who has attempted suicide, call 999 and stay with them until the ambulance arrives. 

If anyone is at serious risk of harm, call 999 and ask for the police. 

For non-life threatening medical situations, call NHS111 on 111.  

For more information, see Help in a Crisis

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