Perinatal Mental Health Services

A perinatal psychiatric assessment is also a 50 minute or 1 hour appointment with a specialised psychiatrist. In our specialised Perinatal Mental Health service, this assessment focuses in very sharply on the perinatal journey, and where you find yourself on it – be that considering conceiving, moving through IVF, early stages of pregnancy, later stages, or in the context of miscarriages, or abortion.

As with any mental health assessment, it will involve talking about the problems you are currently experiencing and how these, among other factors, may have affected you throughout your life within the context of your physical health. Your symptoms’ origins, in the context of what may have precipitated them now can help your psychiatrist to propose strategies to best manage them in future.

It is also likely you will be asked how you are managing in broader areas of your life such as professional and social environment and in some aspects of your family’s medical history. The many facets of the perinatal experience are managed sensitively by our team of experienced clinicians, who will assess and help guide you through your journey.

Our psychiatric perinatal service is delivered by Dr Alessia Spennati, Dr Catherine Wilson, Dr Isabel McMullen, Dr Livia Martucci.

Perinatal psychiatric assessments can be conducted in English, Italian, or Greek - speak to our team for more information.

The cost for a 50-60 minute initial appointment with a Consultant Psychiatrist ranges from £445 - £650.

Many of our psychiatrists publish their specific fees on their profile pages, or you can always write to our Patient Services team on patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com to enquire in more detail.

After the psychiatric assessment, most patients will be asked to return for at least one follow-up appointment with the same psychiatrist to further discuss a treatment plan and check in on their mental health since the previous session. Among our perinatal mental health service, it is common for patients to work with their psychiatrist for the duration of a pregnancy, via more routine follow up appointments.

Patients are encouraged to be active contributors to their treatment and will be able to ask questions to ensure all aspects of it are attainable. Treatment plans may include physical, psychological and social interventions such as:

• Blood tests and diagnostic testing, physical scans and questionnaire completion

• Medication

• Consultation with a Consultant Pharmacist regarding medication interactions and safety in the perinatal period, if applicable

• Psychological therapy with the psychiatrists themselves or with a clinical psychologist with expertise in your area of concern

• Lifestyle recommendations – e.g. taking more exercise, changes to diet, reflecting on relationships/ social life/ job, substance reduction, behavioural activation, and much more.

To ensure seamless continuation of care, your initial assessing psychiatrist would be the person you would see for follow-up appointments.

In rare circumstances, for example if your assessing psychiatrist is unwell or on extended Leave, you will be invited to make your follow-up appointment with a colleague who is covering their patients - this psychiatric colleague will have been briefed on your case, and often will have worked closely with your assessing psychiatrist for many years.

Follow-up appointments are either 30 or 50-60 minutes in length, depending on what you agree with your psychiatrist, and the fees are £245-£350 for 30 minutes, or £445 - £650 for 50-60 minutes depending on clinician.

Our Patient Services team will have advised you of the follow-up fee of your chosen clinician before booking in for your initial assessment, or you can always contact the Clinic at any time to check fee levels.

Your first few appointments with a psychologist will focus on getting to know one another and form an assessment phase of therapy. Here, the psychologist seeks out the necessary background information from you directly, and possibly your psychiatric report, and formulates a plan on how they feel you can best be managed with psychological techniques. From then on, the duration and frequency of sessions will vary based on both your preference, and the psychological therapy used but, in most cases, sessions will take place once a week for 50 minutes.

A therapeutic relationship is based on mutual trust, respect, learning, and openness - for many, this kind of relationship may be new in and of itself and can be a valuable experience in sharing thoughts and feelings with another person.

There is no one size fits all approach for psychological therapy in the context of women’s mental health and our team of highly experienced clinical and counselling psychologists use a variety of evidence-based treatments, approaches and methods that will address your concerns. Various types of talking therapies, often but not always CBT or its derivatives, can be employed in the treatment of different symptoms, and your psychologist would work alongside you to find a combination of approaches and techniques that feel right for you.

The perinatal period is defined as the duration of one’s pregnancy and up to 12 months of the post-natal period. For perinatal women as well as those who are seen up to three years after the post-natal period, assessment will include gaining information and understanding of your perinatal experience. During the early postnatal period, wherever possible, it is helpful for your baby to be present with you during your therapy sessions, whether online or face to face. This helps new mums to gain access to therapy where child-care may be a barrier.

Your therapist can adapt therapy, session structure, and timings accordingly to help accommodate your baby’s presence with what is most beneficial to enable overall progress from therapy. In some instances, however, it may be more beneficial for you to arrange child-care for some of your sessions. Example of this may be if your child is actively mobile, engaging you so that it becomes difficult for you to focus on your therapy, or the topic content means it is best to be spoken about on your own; your therapist will discuss your preferences with you.

Our Women's Health and Perinatal Psychology service is delivered by Dr Sharon Chambers, Dr Gabrielle Samson, Dr Veronica Ranieri, Dr Maria Jalmbrant, Dr Rosanna Michalczuk, Dr Aoife O'Leary and Dr Hattie Smart.

Our Women's Health and Perinatal Psychology service can be delivered in English, or Italian. Please speak to our team for more details.

Fees per therapy session vary depending on clinician, but fall within the range of £200 - £265 per 50-minute appointment.

Many of our team publish their fees on their profile pages, or you can contact our Patient Services team on patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com to enquire after more detail.

Many of those who have received a diagnosis for any mental health disorders are keen to take medication to manage their symptoms. Medication prescribed, during pregnancy and in the post-natal period particularly, requires careful consideration by taking into account known implications, interactions and side effects.

This is especially the case where patients are already taking many medications. It can be helpful in some circumstances to consult our Consultant Pharmacist as she can provide additional educational advice that may be very helpful.

Our resident Consultant Pharmacist is Dr Siobhan Gee, acting deputy director of pharmacy and consultant pharmacist for psychiatric liaison at South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Gee's fees for a consultation are £450 for an hour, and £250 for 30 minutes.