Tower Hamlets Perinatal Service
Tower Hamlets
Address: Perinatal Psychiatry, Burdett House, Ground Floor, Mile End Hospital, 275 Bancroft Road, London E1 4DG
Telephone: 0207 771 5826
Opening times: 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday
About Us
This is an outpatient service for people during pregnancy and up to a year postnatally who live in Tower Hamlets. For parents who have a pre-existing or new-onset mental illness.
The Perinatal Service works with people who have moderate to severe mental health difficulties in pregnancy or within the first year after childbirth. These may be pre-existing illnesses or have their onset in the perinatal period.
If there is a previous, current or a family history of mental health difficulties, you can consent to a referral to this service. Members of the team have many different professional backgrounds: nursing, psychology, and medicine.
What we offer
We provide specialist outpatient and community care to people who are pregnant or in their first year after having a baby. We also provide one off pre-conception counselling to individuals who have a history of severe mental illness and who are considering having a baby.
Your first appointment with us will either be with our consultant psychiatrist, or a member of our team. This could be a Specialist Nurse, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, or Nursery Nurse.
In certain cases before you give birth we will hold a pre-birth planning meeting with yourself and the other professionals involved in your care to discuss how you will be supported during and after your labour.
After pregnancy then depending on the level of need you may also have home visits with one of our nurses in addition to outpatient clinic appointments.
How to Refer
You can make a self referral by filling in the online form or we do accept referrals from the following professionals:
- Health and social care professionals
- GPs
- Community psychiatrists
- Obstetricians
- Midwives
- Health visitors and social workers.
Confidentiality and consent
When you talk with a health professional in private you will expect that what is said remains confidential. This principle is central to trust between patients and their doctor or other health professionals. Details of your care and treatment, including anything you tell us, remains confidential and will only be shared within our multidisciplinary clinical team (which includes health and social care staff) if necessary.
All health professionals are bound by law and professional codes of conduct to this duty of confidentiality to their patients.
Making a Referral
If you live in the boroughs of Bedfordshire, City & Hackney, Newham or Tower Hamlets, and you are pregnant or have recently given birth and find you are suffering mentally or emotionally, please do not suffer alone.
You can fill in the Referral form by clicking on the link below and it will be sent to the team in your local area who will be in touch within 7 days.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or emergency and you or someone you know is in danger, you can contact our free phone Mental Health Crisis Support teams who are available 24/7, 365 days a year. Find the team where you live here>>
Peer Support Workers
Here at ELFT we are very lucky to have perinatal peer support workers as part of our team.
Our peer support workers are individuals with lived experience and have the accredited Royal College of Pyscharitity quailification, whilst also using their experience and empathy to help support a women’s wellbeing.
If you are supported by a Peer support worker, you will feel heard and understood as your sessions will be led by an individual with lived experience the approach is more holistic than medical.
Get Involved
Find a collection of all the events that are being held within the Perinatal Team across East London and Luton & Bedfordshire.
Lara Roberts