Developing a perinatal mental health module: An integrated care approach

Abstract

Midwives have a key role in identifying women at risk of perinatal mental health problems, referring to specialist services, planning care where appropriate, and supporting women and their families. Current guidelines and standards do not place an emphasis on perinatal mental health care as central to the training of student midwives in the UK. Research has shown that midwifery students and midwives do not feel skilled in this aspect of their role. At the University of Surrey, a programme-specific perinatal mental health module was developed for student midwives in the second year of their pre-registration programme, which has been well evaluated. Service users and specialist mental health practitioners have been involved in developing and teaching the module, and the content is reviewed annually to reflect national policy drivers.