- Overview
- Directions
- How do I register for this service?
- Contact us
- Meet the team
- Reviews and feedback
- Accessibility Information
- Useful resources and links
- Professionals
Type
Perinatal mental healthOur Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service provides assessment and treatment for women who are experiencing or are at an increased chance of experiencing a moderate to severe mental health condition during pregnancy and up to 12 months after having a baby*.
Pre-conception counselling is available for those who have previously experienced a severe mental illness and would like to plan a pregnancy.
Who is this service for? Women across Northamptonshire with moderate to severe mental health conditions who are planning a pregnancy, currently pregnant, or have a child under 12 months*
*With care and treatment provided up to 24 months where there is an ongoing perinatal need.
How do I register for this service?
The Perinatal Service runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Unfortunately, we are not able to accept self-referrals so please speak to a health professional to be referred.
Referrals can be made by any health professional working with an individual including midwives, health visitors, GP’s, hospital based teams and mental health services.
Routine referrals will be responded to within a 4 week time frame. If you have not been contacted by the team within 4 weeks please contact us for further information.
Contact us
The service is available to contact Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.
Telephone: 03000 270 480
Email: Perinatal@nhft.nhs.uk
If you are in need of mental health support outside of these hours, please call the Mental Health Number on 0800 448 0828. Lines available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are a health professional please refer your patient using the
Specialist Perinatal and Maternal Loss Psychology Service referral form
Meet the team
The Specialist Perinatal Service is supported by a multi-disciplinary team of professionals.
Administration team
Administrative team: Our dedicated team of administrators keep our services running and provide an incredible backbone for how our team is able to work.
Andrea Dyks - Administrator
Lindsey Pettit - Administrator
Amy Gully - Administrator
Tiffany Millward-Jones - Administrator
Chloe Weston - Business Support Manager
CPNs and Mental Health Practitioners
CPN & Mental Health Practitioners: Registered mental health specialists with significant experience and specialist training in perinatal mental health. Providing assessments, support and delivering recommended interventions that supports mental health during pregnancy and after having a baby.
Lisa Read - Mental Health Practitioner
Nina Kaler - Mental Health Nurse
David Boyling - Interim Operational Manager / Mental Health Nurse
Arlene Schrantz - Mental Health Nurse
Anna Doyle - Mental Health Nurse
Charlotte Banks - Mental Health Nurse
Kim Pittuck - Mental Health Nurse
Vicki O'Callaghan - Mental Health Nurse
Nicola Lawrence - Mental Health Nurse
Alison Hollowell - Mental Health Nurse
Tracey Taylor - Mental Health Nurse
Rebecca Waterhouse - Mental Health Nurse
Psychiatrists
Psychiatrists: Provide consultation on medication, care and treatment for women at preconception stage, during pregnancy and after having a baby.
Dr Emma Fisher - Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist
Dr Bhanu Chadalavada - Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist
Carol Abrahams - Speciality Doctor
Management team
Management team: Specialist perinatal mental health practitioners who have oversight of the delivery of the service and supervision of the team.
Carly Galpin - Interim Strategic Lead for Perinatal Mental Health Services
Nadia Grover - Interim Service Manager
Sarah Jones - Operational Manager / Social Worker
Madeline Warwick - Operational Manager / Occupational Therapist
Nursery nurses
Nursery Nurses: Specialist Nursery Nurses trained in child development with a focus on developing, improving, and supporting the bond between mum and baby.
Clare Burns - Nursery Nurse
Kristina Childs - Nursery Nurse
Jo Carrick - Nursery Nurse
Maxine Hart - Nursery Nurse
Occuptional Therapy
Occupational Therapy: Provide practical support to empower service users to overcome the barriers preventing them from doing the day-to-day activities they want or need to do through recovery through activity and antenatal groups.
Alex Stoddart - Occupational Therapist
Vanessa Cole - Occupational Therapist
Corinne White - Occupational Therapist
Peer support workers
Peer Support Workers: Peer support workers have lived experience of perinatal mental health and have completed specialist peer support training. They use their experience and empathy to help support other women and their families through their mental health difficulties and provide inspiration for their recovery.
Christina Willis - Peer Support Worker
Chelsea Chalmers - Peer Support Worker
Katrina Hancox - Peer Support Worker
Meg Rutter - Peer Support Worker
Perinatal Pharamcist
Amie Gill - Perinatal Pharmacist
Psychology team
Psychology Team: Psychologists and Psychological Therapists providing a range of specialists psychological interventions.
Dr Kirsty Harris - Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Trudy Robertson - Senior Psychological Therapist
Christina Martin - Assistant Psychologist
Dr Sarah Butterworth - Clinical Psychologist
Oonagh O'Hare - Senior Clinical Psychologist
Dr Jen Hill - Principal Clinical Psychologist
Demi Brockway - Assistant Psychologist
Katie Turnball - Psychological Therapist
Eleanor McCarron - Psychological Therapist
Kirsty Aveling - Assistant Psychologist
Support workers
Support workers: Plan and provide full physical health checks and stabilisation support prior to or alongside other interventions provided by practitioners and/or the psychology team.
Becky Steadman - Support worker
Reviews and feedback
We value your feedback in order to help us develop our services and ensure that we're making a difference for you, with you.
Accessibility Information
As a service, we are committed to making any adjustments which service users require in order to receive care.
Please speak to your medical professional who is referring you to the service (for example, GP, midwife) if you have any accessibility requirements at the point of referral.
Useful resources and links
Perinatal Wellbeing Care Pack for Parents - Support and Advice for Parents - Version 4 [pdf] 1MB
Click here for the Perinatal positivity Website - Perinatal Positivity uses the real voices and experiences of women and men who have had mental wellbeing difficulties around the time of pregnancy, childbirth and beyond.
Other organisations
Re:store Northampton
Provided a range of projects focused on 0-5yrs and their families, including The Nest and Growbaby.
Contact: 01604 328046 (Open 9am – 3pm)
Postpartum Men
A place for men with concerns about depression, anxiety or other problems with mood after the birth of a child.
Flourishing Babies
Offer antenatal support and a baby care skills programme for pregnant and new mums and parents to be, along with perinatal support on a one to one basis in the family home by a volunteer befriender and in peer support groups and drop-ins.
Contact: 079 7016 8804 / flourishingbabies@family-action.org.uk
Strong Start – Early Years and Childcare - Northamptonshire
The Strong Start team is a group of qualified and experienced early years professionals, contracted by Public Health, to support families with babies.
Contact: strongstartteam@westnorthants.gov.uk
The National Childbirth Trust
NCT offer information and advice about pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care to parents and parents-to-be.
Helpline: 0300 33 00 700 (lines open 8am - midnight)
Professionals
The Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service is a multi-disciplinary service that provides assessment and treatment for women who are experiencing or are at an increased chance of experiencing a moderate to severe mental health condition during pregnancy and up to 12 months after having a baby*.
The service works with women across Northamptonshire who are planning a pregnancy, currently pregnant or have recently given birth and have moderate to severe mental health condition including bipolar disorder, psychosis, depression, anxiety and maternal OCD.
When making a referral, consideration of any perinatal red flags or risk indicators should be made and where identified, advice should be sought over the phone.
Red Flags include:
- Recent significant changes in mental state or emergence of new symptoms.
- New thoughts or acts of violent self-harm.
- New and persistent expressions of incompetency as a mother or estrangement from the infant.
If you are a health professional please refer your patient using the
Specialist Perinatal and Maternal Loss Psychology Service referral form
A member of the clinical team is available to provide perinatal referral advice during working hours of 9am – 5pm. The advice line number is 03000 270480.
Routine Referrals:
A referral form should be completed. A member of the team will review the referral and will respond within 4 weeks. If you have not received a response from the team after this time, please call 03000 270480.
Emergency and Urgent Referrals:
A clinical member of staff is available to discuss potential emergency and urgent referrals during working hours. Where the team deems a referral to require an emergency response, they will aim to coordinate an assessment with 4 hours. Where it is deemed an urgent response is required, there will aim to coordinate an assessment within 48 hours.
Where the team is unable to carry out an emergency or urgent assessment, arrangements will be made for another service to facilitate this.
Out of hours, these referrals should be made to either:
- Urgent Care and Assessment Team (UCAT) - for women in the community.
- Acute Liaison Mental Health Service (ALMHS) - for women presenting at A&E or maternity wards.
Referrals can be made by any health professional working with a woman. This includes midwives, health visitors, GP’s, hospital based teams and mental health services. Routine referrals can be made online via the referral form.
*With care and treatment provided up to 24 months where there is an ongoing perinatal need.