Wellbeing and mental health during pregnancy

Your emotional health is as important as your physical health and at your booking appointment, your midwife will ask about your medical history, including your mental health and wellbeing.

We will continue to check on your mental health at appointments throughout your pregnancy encouraging you to share any concerns, as we know it is an emotional time and it can sometimes be difficult to know whether your feelings are manageable or a sign of something more serious.

You can talk to your midwife or GP if you have any worries or concerns about how you feel. It's important to share your thoughts and feelings to ensure you get the right support and help as soon as possible.

We can offer a range of support services:

• A joint mental health clinic for women with severe mental illness
• A specialist team of midwives who support women with the most severe mental illness
• Close working with the Berkshire perinatal mental health service
• A birth reflections service to support families to explore and understand their birth experience.
• Rapid access to Talking Therapies for pregnant or postnatal women with anxiety or depression
• Online peer support
• Signposting to a wide range of independent support services, such as Pandas Foundation. 

Medication
If you are taking medication it is very important that you do not stop your medication or reduce the dose suddenly. Please talk to your GP if you have any worries or concerns about medication and they can help you to decide what is the best for your and your baby.