Maternity – Annual Impact Report 2023/24
The NHS Long Term Plan renewed the NHS’s commitment to transformation in specialist perinatal mental health services, to ensure that all women who can benefit are able to access care. Our experts in mental health played an integral role in London’s response and commitment to enhancing and improving mental health support for new mums.
Universal access to perinatal mental health services
In 2024, we concluded a seven-year programme in London to achieve all the ambitions for perinatal mental healthcare set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
Working in partnership with the NHS in London, we have collectively ensured there is universal access to specialist perinatal mental healthcare, supported by Provider Collaboratives across the capital.
Perinatal mental health services are for women/birthing people who are planning a pregnancy, pregnant, or who have a baby up to one year old, and who experience mental health problems.
The programme we supported, which started in 2017, succeeded by creating a responsive network of professionals, peer support and experts by experience who were all determined to improve the care and experiences of women, birthing people and families.
To facilitate this work, our team:
- set up clinical leads support and networks
- created the first Lived Experience Practitioner programme team post to support the roll out of maternal mental health services and encourage the development of peer support for perinatal mental health
- developed and updated a training and education plan for London to address gaps in training and education. There are now hundreds of perinatal mental health champions in the capital
- created a dedicated webpage, podcast series, clinical guidance and newsletter
- supported the creation of Provider Collaboratives in London.
Better for patients, babies and families
- Every postcode in London is covered by community perinatal mental health teams.
- Women, birthing people and families have access to a wider range of psychological interventions
- As of April 2024, all three London Provider Collaboratives have gone live.
Talk to us to find out more
If you are interested in hearing more about how we can help your organisation meet its maternity challenges, please contact us for an informal chat.
email us at:rf-tr.tphc-communication@nhs.net
Supporting London’s maternity workforce
We have also run the CapitalMidwife programme on behalf of NHS England’s London Regional Maternity Team since 2018. Read more about this work here.
This brings together staff to design and champion work to make sure London maternity staff are valued, respected, listened to and supported to reach their full potential. This pre-emptively tackles issues that can lead to midwives leaving the workforce.
