The Maternal Mental Health Service (MMHS) supports women, their partners and families living in Birmingham and Solihull who have experienced perinatal loss and have associated mental health difficulties.    

Our service is for women who experience significant mental health distress which is impacting on day-to-day life, for example work, relationships and sleep, which is directly associated with their experiences of:

  • Miscarriage

  • Ectopic pregnancy  

  • Termination of pregnancy due to foetal abnormality  

  • Stillbirth   

  • Neonatal death  

Baby loss can impact everyone in our community. Our service aims to reflect the rich cultural diversity found in Birmingham and Solihull to meet individual needs and experiences. Parents can often feel isolated and misunderstood in their grief, our service offers an open and supportive space.  

The service works alongside other health professionals to ensure the women/birthing people are given the best support possible. Women and birthing people who have experienced perinatal loss have worked with the team and maternity colleagues to develop our service.

For more support and advice, visit our YouTube playlist here. 

This service is delivered by a small team of professionals made up of: 

  • clinical psychologists 

  • counsellors 

  • a specialist midwife 

  • trained peer supporters with lived experience of baby loss

We offer peer support, specialist midwifery and psychological therapy, which aim to build an understanding of individual experiences, current difficulties, and possible factors which may affect emotional wellbeing.  

We will work together to identify and plan steps forward for support and meaningful change. We will draw on a range of evidence-based and trauma-informed psychological approaches.  

The care provided will be based on individual needs and preferences and may include a combination of the following tools and approaches: 

  • Providing a safe space to share experiences

  • Talking with someone who has also experienced perinatal loss

  • Information about how the brain and body responds to trauma, and its association with loss and grief

  •  Managing feelings

  • Talking about parental identity and how this has been impacted by perinatal loss 

  •  Managing relationships 

  • Developing resources and strategies for meaningful living 

  • Person centred, cognitive behavioural, relational and compassion focused approaches 

To complement this, our specialist midwife provides support and care, both around the experience of loss and any concerns around future pregnancies. Our specialist midwife can provide a link between the maternity service and other services involved in mental health care for women/birthing people, including the local primary care therapy service (IAPT) and the wider perinatal mental health team. 

Our trained peer supporters bring their own personal experience of perinatal loss to support others. They will bring together people with shared experiences to support each other providing authentic support. 

Our team is also able to provide support to partners, offering an assessment to support access to community-based specialist support services.  

The length and number of sessions required will be assessed on an individual basis. 

Anyone who feels they need support around their mental health following a pregnancy or baby loss is encouraged to discuss this with their midwife, health visitor or GP, who can share information about all the sources of support in Birmingham and Solihull. They can all also refer into our specialist team if needed. Unfortunately, we do accept direct self-referrals.  

All referrals must come from health professionals working within Birmingham and Solihull, such as Midwives, GPs, Obstetricians, Health Visitors, Nurses). 

Should you have any questions about the service, how to complete the referral form or would like to discuss a person who may benefit from our service, then please contact us via our email address: bsmhft.mmhs@nhs.net 

Once a referral has been sent into the team, the referral will be discussed in our weekly Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT). The aim of this MDT meeting is to consider each patient's needs and who may be best placed to support them, whether this is the Maternal Mental Health team or another service.  

If suitability of the service is agreed, we will be in touch directly to offer an initial appointment.