New online mental health programme for midwives

A new online e-learning programme that helps midwives to identify and treat new mothers who are at risk of developing serious mental illness is now available.

‘Maternal Mental Health: A Learning Programme for Midwives’ was designed by the All-Wales Perinatal Mental Health Group and produced by Healthcare Learning Company, Smile-On, with funding from Welsh Government.

Dr Ian Jones, who led the development of the programme, and is a lead researcher for the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH) says:

“Suicide is a leading cause of maternal death in the UK and it is vital that women at high risk of severe mental illness at this time are identified so that appropriate help can be given to help keep them well.

“The mental health and well-being of women in pregnancy is pivotal to ensuring good clinical, social and psychological outcomes for both mother and baby and provide a healthy start to family life.

“In view of this, it is essential that mental health is a central component of midwifery care – which is the primary motivation in developing this new on-line learning tool.”

The module covers a variety of different subject areas including: commonly held beliefs about mental health and pregnancy; characteristics of those women most at risk of severe mental illness; help for health care professionals to ask questions about a person’s mental health in the right way and then how to interpret the answers; and when to refer women for more help.

To access the module click on Maternal Mental Health: A Learning Programme for Midwives.