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Policy

Mental health

From
Director-General Health and Social Care
Directorate
Mental Health Directorate
Topic
Health and social care
Policy actions  9 of 10

Perinatal and early years

We are committed to improving the mental health of parents, carers and infants throughout pregnancy and during the postnatal period. 

The 2018 to 2019 Programme for Government commitment to improving perinatal and infant mental health was overseen and directed by the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board. Following the planned conclusion of the Programme Board in March 2023, a Joint Strategic Board for Child and Family Mental Health has been set up. This was done in partnership by COSLA and Scottish Government to progress key work from both the Programme Board and the Joint Delivery for Board for Children and Young People’s Mental Health.

We are continuing to work with health boards and third sector organisations across Scotland to establish and expand services for families across perinatal and infant mental health. These include:

  • Mother and Baby Unit inpatient provision
  • third sector services
  • statutory community services
    • specialist community perinatal mental health services
    • infant mental health services
    • maternity and neonatal psychological services

We are also continuing to work with the Perinatal Mental Health Network Scotland and NHS Education Scotland to support services and workforce development.

Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) 2024 Fund

Our Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) 2024 Fund is an 18-month funding programme. This programme is for third sector organisations who support babies, parents and carers affected by, or at risk, of perinatal and infant mental health issues in Scotland. 

Here is a summary of our actions:

Establishment and expansion of perinatal and infant mental health services

We have:

  • invested in Mother and Baby Units to increase staffing levels and improve the experience of care for women in need of intensive support 
  • worked with boards across Scotland to develop specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health services. These provide assessment and care for women with moderate to severe mental health illness, implement integrated Infant Mental Health teams and roll out Maternity/Neonatal Psychological Interventions services
  • launched the Mother and Baby Family Fund (MBUFF) in October 2020 to support those visiting their loved ones. The MBUFF allows partners/fathers/main carers to claim towards the cost of travel, food and accommodation when visiting the unit. This also applies for children under 16 during their visits
  • launched the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund (August 2020), to provide enhanced peer support, parenting support and perinatal counselling services to women, infants and their families during pregnancy and in the early stages of life
  • published a directory of currently available perinatal and infant mental health third-sector support in Scotland
  • published an update on the expansion and development of perinatal and infant mental health services (March 2023)
  • provided additional funding to develop intensive specialist mental health support for the most severely ill women in the perinatal period, living in the north of Scotland

Focus on infant mental health and parenting support

We have:

  • launched the Wellbeing for Wee Ones Hub on the Parent Club website, supporting parents to gain an understanding of their infant’s emotional and mental wellbeing from an early stage
  • ensured the Solihull Online programme is accessible to every parent across Scotland, providing evidence based information on relationships and child development all the way through to 18 years
  • funded NHS Education Scotland (NES) to deliver the Psychology of Parenting programme to enable communities to be well equipped to promote and support people’s mental health and wellbeing throughout Scotland

Other support and guidance

We have:

  • worked with See Me to explore ways to actively promote, role model and highlight good practice around peer support, stigma reduction and raising awareness across perinatal and infant mental health
  • worked with Inspiring Scotland and Evaluation Support Scotland to co-produce an evaluation framework for perinatal peer support (March 2023), together with charities in our third sector fund portfolios
  • worked with Scottish Recovery Network to publish a perinatal peer support resource - Let’s do peer support; Bump, Birth and Beyond (April 2023)
  • worked in partnership to deliver the Perinatal Mental Health Peer Support events in February 2022 and March 2023 showcasing good practice and to recognise the contribution of peer support workers
  • developed a 0-5 years resource for people who work with babies, infants and young children which highlights learning materials. These include best practice guidance, online modules, websites, animations etc to support learning around infants, children and families mental health and wellbeing
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