Survey extended to help more people shape Maternal Mental Health Service

A survey to seek the views of people who have suffered trauma or loss during pregnancy has been extended to give more people chance to respond. The survey will help develop a new Maternal Mental Health Service, and will now remain available until the end of Sunday December 5. The service will be the first service specifically designed to help anyone who has suffered loss and trauma during pregnancy and childbirth. It will also help people who suffer with Tokophobia – a severe fear of childbirth which can affect anyone, including those who want a baby or are pregnant. The views expressed will help design the new service, which will be provided by North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust and Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT). Heather Johnstone is a former midwife and Lead for the Maternity Transformation Programme of Together We’re Better, the health and care partnership for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. Heather said: “Childbirth is unfortunately not a happy experience for everyone. We are now planning a new service that will deliver support to mothers, and their partners, who have suffered trauma or loss during pregnancy or birth. “This can be a really difficult experience to talk about, but learning how this has affected people can help us decide the best ways to deliver this new service.” “It would be especially helpful to hear from people who live in Staffordshire or Stoke-on-Trent and consider yourself to have experienced birth trauma, loss and or Tokophobia within the last five years. You may not have spoken to someone previously about this and it doesn’t have to have been recorded on your medical records.” It is a national ambition across England to deliver local Maternal Mental Health Services by 2024. It can be accessed online here: https://www.twbstaffsandstoke.org.uk/get-involved/maternity-services-transformation