You may hear the following terms:
- Perinatal mental health (PMH) problems are those which occur during pregnancy or in the first year following the birth of a child. Perinatal mental illness affects up to 27% of new and expectant mums and covers a wide range of conditions, including anxiety, depression and other more complex diagnoses.
- Parental Mental Health refers to variety of mental health problems affecting parents of children of any age.
Early help perinatal mental health services
There are several organisations working together to offer early help perinatal mental health services.
Bright Start Children’s Centre services work in partnership with others (B&NES Health Visiting Service, local Creative & Arts organisations) to facilitate provision of:
- ‘Pregnancy in Mind’ for pregnant parents
- ‘My Time, My Space’ for mums with babies under 1 year
- 'Relational Counselling', a service for new and expectant parents affected by their own Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), as support to heal past hurts to develop stronger family relationships
Details of these courses can be found on Children’s Centre Services webpage or you can contact the children's centre directly using the details below.
Make A Move has been working with mothers in the area since it was founded in 2011. They help mothers by providing them with a personal toolbox of resources to use to help them manage their low mood both now and for the future.
Open Space is an arts-based therapy group delivered by Domini Hooper. Issues covered include pregnancy, birth, early motherhood, family dynamics, and how relationships can change after childbirth. The sessions are particularly suitable for mothers who have experienced difficult or traumatic births and want a supportive space to work through their experience.
The Specialist Perinatal Mental Health service supports people who:
- have previously experienced a serious mental illness and are planning to conceive;
- develop a serious mental illness in the perinatal period;
- have had a serious perinatal illness in a past pregnancy and are now pregnant;
- are already under the care of AWP when we may provide additional support;
- have been previously admitted to a mother and baby unit;
- display significant mental health difficulties during the perinatal period.
Parental mental health services
NHS B&NES Talking Therapies aims to help people access support for a range of common mental health problems. Talking therapies provides a service for people registered with a GP in Bath and North East Somerset. Women can self refer to Talking Therapies and be fast tracked for support if they are in the peri-natal period (pregnant and up to 1 year after the birth). Telephone 01225 67 51 50 or email awp.banes-talkingtherapies@nhs.net.
Last updated: 8 September 2026