A new digital resource designed to help pregnant women to think and talk about their mental wellbeing during their pregnancy and post-birth, and to plan early for support and self-care after the birth, is now available.
The new digital tool: Your Baby's Mum: A wellbeing plan for pregnancy and post-birth is suitable and available for all pregnant women and can be completed at any point in pregnancy.
Tommy's has launched the resource, which is a replica of the NICE-approved Pregnancy and Post-birth Wellbeing Plan and it was created in partnership with the Institute of Health Visitors (IHV), the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), Netmums, Public Health England (PHE) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).
The tool will help pregnant women make a plan for their mental wellbeing and it will offer extra support to those who need it during pregnancy. It has a tailored route for women who have suffered a previous pregnancy loss or premature birth, which acknowledges the extra anxiety this can cause.
The Wellbeing Plan aims to:
The tool will also identify women who are at higher risk of poor mental health, offering a Tommy's midwife call-back to women who may need extra support.
Jane Brewin, CEO of Tommy's, said of the tool;
The importance of maternal mental health cannot be stressed enough. Suicide is the leading cause of death during the first year after pregnancy. Despite this, there is far more information provided to pregnant women on physical wellbeing than on mental wellbeing. The majority of resources and services that do exist tend to focus on women with an existing mental illness diagnosis, rather than helping those who develop problems during their pregnancy. The Tommy's digital mental health tool will help women think about and plan for their mental wellbeing and get support if they need it - because the mother's wellbeing affects the whole family.
Find out more about the: new mental health digital tool for pregnancy and post-birth.
