Specialist perinatal service celebrates five years of service
The Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service (SPMHS) has celebrated a milestone 5th anniversary where they shared the service’s journey to date.
It all began in 2016 when the need for a perinatal mental health service in Northamptonshire was first discussed. Development of the idea led to design of the service, which lead to a successful bid to set up the service in 2017, which was then launched in October 2018.
Over the last 5 years, the service has seen substantial growth in staffing, an increase in referrals and it is solidly embedded across primary, secondary and the VCSE sector as a champion service. The service specialises in supporting the women and birthing people in Northamptonshire with moderate to severe mental health needs pre, during and post pregnancy.
The service has won multiple accolades in the Trust’s annual Quality Awards ceremony over the years including ‘Patient Choice winner (2019)’, ‘Team of the year (2020)’ and runners up ‘Clinical Team of the year (2023)’.
NHFT directors attended a special presentation event where staff from the service shared their inspirational journey as members of the team and heard feedback from women who had received care from the service. The service has worked extremely hard to train and recruit women with lived experience of perinatal mental health conditions to substantive roles within the team.
One of the highlights of the day was hearing an extremely touching account from one of the service’s four Peer Support workers who credited her own experience of receiving peer support as a pivotal point in her recovery journey. Our Peer Support workers are now an established and highly valued part of the Perinatal Multidisciplinary Team and work across multiple intervention pathways, coming alongside women, sharing their lived experience to promote hope and recovery.
Congratulations to the Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service on your five-year anniversary, you have made a difference to many individuals, supporting them through challenging circumstances. We look forward to hearing about what you will go on to achieve in the next five years.