Guidance highlights the role of Specialist Health Visitors in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health

All women and their partners should have access within their local health visiting service to a specialist health visitor in perinatal and infant mental health (PIMH).

That’s the conclusion of guidance published today by Health Education England (HEE) called Specialist Health Visitors in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health - What they do and why they matter.

According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), more than one-in-ten women will experience mental health problems during pregnancy and after the child’s birth, which means that some 70,000 families could be affected by mental health issues. New fathers can also experience difficulties. If not addressed promptly by those with additional training, the guidance states that mental ill-health can have a devastating impact on women and their families.

The document sets out the important role of specialist health visitors in PIMH and illustrates the value to parents and other health professionals involved in a mother’s care and recommends that every woman should have access to a specialist Health Visitor (PIMH) as part of the multi-disciplinary team caring for them.

A recent London School of Economics report estimates the long-term cost to society of mental health problems in the perinatal period to be in the region of £8 billion for each one-year cohort of births in the UK.

Professor Lisa Bayliss-Pratt, Director of Nursing and Deputy Director of Education and Quality, HEE, commented:

Perinatal mental health problems are now understood to have a significant public health impact. Without early identification and treatment such problems can also affect the mental health and development of infants and children.

Indeed, recent policy documents: the NHS Five Year Forward View, Future in Mind and most recently the Maternity Review, have all called for improved mental health services, including during pregnancy and the first year of life. Health visitors, through their ‘universal’ service, are best placed to identify those families requiring additional support, especially where the mother or father may be suffering from perinatal mental illness, or where the parent-infant bond is compromised. However, health visitors have many other roles to fulfil during this critical period of every child’s life and would benefit from specialist support in this challenging arena. The framework is a very positive development that I hope will be embraced by every employer.

Sara Rance, Consultant Child Psychotherapist and Parent Infant Psychotherapist and author of the guidance added: 

Having worked for many years as a trainer and colleague of Health Visitors who have become Specialists in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health I have seen at first hand the difference they can make to vulnerable parents and infants and to raising understanding and expertise in the wider health visiting and early years workforce.

For those struggling with mental health difficulties in the perinatal period the supportive relationship with a health visitor who has additional training and the capacity to provide vital continuity of care not only contributes to their own recovery but to building the best possible relationship with their babies and young children. Commissioning at least one specialist post for a health visitor in PIMH within every health visiting service is a crucial step in building the multi-disciplinary teams and pathways we need to deliver proper perinatal mental healthcare in England.

The guidance was produced following research and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders across health and social care including the Institute of Health Visiting, Parent Infant Partnership UK, Warwick Medical School, Maternal Mental Health Alliance, Association for Infant Mental Health, East London Foundation Trust, Bipolar UK and others. A full list of contributors is available in the document.