The Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service at The National Maternity Hospital is run by a team of multidisciplinary mental health professionals who work with women, their babies and their family/support person to help them stay as well as possible during pregnancy and after birth.
Mental health difficulties in pregnancy and after the birth of a baby are common. Up to 1 in 5 women will experience a mental health problem in pregnancy or postpartum.
Not every woman who experiences a mental health difficulty during this time will need to be referred to the Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service at The NMH. The majority of mild to moderate perinatal mental health difficulties can be effectively managed by your GP and/or other primary care and community services.
The Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service at The NMH provides care to women with complex mental health difficulties and/or women with moderate to severe mental illness in pregnancy and up six months postnatally.
You can find more details about our referral criteria and the referral process below.
What we provide:
- Expertise in working with women with complex, serious mental health difficulties both during pregnancy and after the birth of their baby.
- Assessment and intervention for women attending The NMH who may be experiencing a significant mental health difficulty or have a history of a serious mental illness. For example, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, major depression or anxiety disorder eating disorders, etc.
- We work together with women, their family/support person and other healthcare professionals and services involved in their care.
- We can advise on the benefits and on risks of any psychiatric medication during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.
- We can support and advise on the mother-baby relationship.
- Based on our initial assessment, individual plans may vary and will depend on the level of support you need. However, sometimes we may need to refer you to an appropriate service outside of the hospital.
Please note:
We do not provide a general counselling service.
We do not provide an emergency/crisis or walk-in service. Patients are seen strictly by appointment only.
Emergency referrals should be referred to local catchment mental health services or Emergency Department/liaison psychiatric service.
We do not accept self-referrals
Administration Hours
Monday - Friday: 8am – 3pm
Tel: (01) 637 3128
Referral Email: spmhs@nmh.ie