Why was PMHN Scotland established?
In 2012, the SIGN Guideline (127) on Perinatal Mood Disorders recommended that Scotland should have a national managed clinical network for perinatal mental health. Its aims would be to develop standards and pathways for referral and management of women experiencing perinatal mental illness, establish competencies and training for health professionals, and ensure all pregnant and postnatal women had equitable access to appropriate care.
The UK & Ireland Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths also recommended that clinical networks should be established to prevent care being fragmented and uncoordinated. Similar recommendations were made in Getting it Right, a report from NSPCC Scotland and Maternal Mental Health Scotland, and in the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland’s report Keeping Mothers and Babies in Mind.
In 2017, the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 agreed to fund the introduction of a managed clinical network to improve the recognition and treatment of perinatal mental health problems. PMHN Scotland was established in April 2017.
PMHN Scotland has 4 themes around which its work is structured:
- Working in Partnership
- Developing Professional Expertise
- Ensuring Equity of Care
- Delivering Best Outcomes
Service Development in Scotland.
Scotland’s first mother and baby unit (MBU), and community perinatal mental health team, was established in Glasgow in 2004. A second MBU followed in 2017, in Livingston. Between them, these units can admit mothers and their babies for specialist inpatient care from across Scotland.
In 2019, following an extensive review of current service provision across Scotland, PMHN Scotland published its report Delivering Effective Services: Needs Assessment and Service Recommendations for Specialist and Universal Perinatal Mental Health Services. At the same time, the Scottish Government announced funding for perinatal mental health and the establishment of the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board to oversee the investment.