“I’ll look after the kids while you go and have a shower”: An Evaluation of a service to address mild to moderate maternal perinatal mental health problems

Background: Perinatal mental health (PMH) problems are a major public health concern because they may impair parenting ability which potentially has an immediate and long-term impact on the physical, cognitive and emotional health of the child.

Aims: We evaluated a Perinatal Support Service (PSS) which supports positive attachment between mothers with PMH problems and their child, to evidence its impact on maternal mental health and maternal-infant interaction.

Method: Using a mixed-methods approach, anonymised pre and post service outcomes data from 123 clients, fourteen interviews and a focus group discussion were analysed.

Results: We found significant improvement in anxiety (t (55) = 6.96, p<.01, 95% CI [3.15, 5.70]), and depression (t (55) = 6.58, p <.01, 95% CI [3.03, 5.68]) on the HADS, and on the GAD -7 (t (12) = 4.541, p = .001, 95% CI [3.48,9.90]) after the PSS. Anxiety post service (M=9.08, SD = 4.96) was lower than baseline anxiety (M=15.77, SD = 4.68). Receiving emotional and practical support contributed to improvements in mental health and mother-child interaction.

Conclusion: Given the paucity of PMH services in the UK, it is imperative that services such as the PSS continue to receive funding to address unmet PMH needs.