This page provides information on Infant, Early Years, and Maternal Mental Health including resources, useful reading, and shares some of the work happening across Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
What is Infant, Early Years, and Maternal Mental Health?
- Maternal Mental Health: also known as Perinatal Mental Health refers to mental health during pregnancy and up to one year after the baby is born. During this period new and expectant parents (mums, dads, partners) can experience issues with their mental health. These illnesses can be mild, moderate or severe, requiring different kinds of care or treatment.
- Infant and Early Years Mental Health: An infant is a child from birth until about 1 year old, while the ‘Early Years’ refers to children who are under the age of five. Infant and early years mental health therefore is about the social and emotional wellbeing and development of children in the earliest years of life. It reflects whether children have the secure, responsive relationships that they need to thrive. It is often an overlooked and misunderstood subject.
Why should we focus on Infant, Early Years, and Maternal Mental Health?
Becoming a parent is often portrayed as a joyous time, however for many the reality is very different with reports showing that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 10 men and partners are affected by mental health problems during pregnancy and the first year after birth. The stigma and fear associated with perinatal mental health can leave those affected feeling inadequate as a parent, isolated, and vulnerable. It can impede or delay getting help, treatment, and recovery.
Whilst the perinatal period can be a vulnerable time for all women and their families, research highlights that those with protected characteristics including women of colour, LGBTQ and young parents are at greater risk of developing mental health problems. Their vulnerability is further intensified due to additional factors of culture and ethnicity, stigma attached to mental health, language barriers, poverty, discrimination, lack of awareness of supports available and many more.
Untreated perinatal mental health problems present a major public health concern and can have long-term impacts on the physical and mental health outcomes of mothers, babies, partners, and families. It is crucial that families are supported to have positive mental health and wellbeing during the perinatal period.
Exploring the experiences of the NHSGGC Perinatal and Infant Mental Health network in engaging with Black and Ethnic Minority women and their families during the perinatal period to support mental health and wellbeing. Read the report here along with a thematic analysis comparing the findings to other research papers.
“We need to look below the surface”: an infographic to illustrate the strength and resilience of women of colour despite the significant challenges and barriers they face during the perinatal period and beyond.
How you can get involved in supporting Infant, Early Years, and Maternal Mental Health
The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Mental Health Improvement Team have established a Perinatal and Infant Mental Health network to help deliver on the Infant and Maternal Mental Health agenda. The network is made up of partners from Health Improvement, Third Sector, Clinical Services, Social Work, Education, Health Visiting and many more.
The network meets monthly to keep up to date on national and board developments, work together to translate national policy into local meaningful actions, share good practice and hear from different services. The service spotlight section is an opportunity for partners and organisations to provide an overview of the services and supports they provide. If you would like to attend one of the meetings to promote your service please contact ggc.mhead@nhs.scot*.
*Please note that this is a generic admin inbox and not monitored immediately. If you, or someone you know are in distress and need an immediate response call the emergency services on 999 or NHS24 on 111.
Watch our short clip below to find out more about the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Network and the work we do.
Read how our NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Network are translating recommendations from the Delivering Effective Services: Needs Assessment and Service Recommendations for Specialist and Universal Perinatal Mental Health Services (2018) into local action.
The network works closely with Fathers Network Scotland to build capacity around understanding and awareness of paternal and partner mental health. Read more about the work here.
Building partnerships between the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Perinatal Service and Third Sector organisations, read about our Conversation Workshops here.
The Early Years Mental Health Improvement Framework
This framework has been created as a planning tool to help support those working with babies and young children who are under 5 and their parents/carers to plan and deliver mental health improvement activities. It outlines the range of themes that evidence shows promotes positive mental health in the early years and highlights factors that both threaten and support good mental health.
Supporting materials
- Policy Mapping Document: A document illustrating how the framework links to some of the key policy drivers for early years mental health and how they interconnect.
- Evidence briefings: A series of documents highlighting evidence that underpins each element of the framework:
Resources
Bump, Birth and Beyond Guide
Scottish Recovery Network has produced a new co-designed resource to help people plan and deliver perinatal peer support: Let’s do peer support: Bump, Birth and Beyond guide.
Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Good Practice Guide
A resource to support Health Care Workers, Third Sector Partners, and any community organisations that are in contact with, supporting and/or working with new and expectant parents. It is underpinned the nine protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act (2010).
Supporting Parents’ Mental Health during the Perinatal Period
The Greater Glasgow and Clyde Prevention and Early Intervention Guide helps staff have conversations with parents about their mental health during the perinatal period and signpost to supports appropriate to their needs to prevent a mental health crisis from developing. You can order free from the Public Health Resource directory.
Voice of the Infant Best Practice Guidelines and Infant Pledge
The Scottish Government has published the Voice of the Infant Best Practice Guidelines and Infant Pledge. Co-produced by a short-life working group, on behalf of the Infant Mental Health Implementation and Advisory Group, which was part of the Scottish Government’s Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board, the new guidelines provide direction on how to take account of infants’ views and rights in all encounters.
The guidelines offer suggestions on how those who work with babies and very young children can notice, facilitate and share the infant’s feelings, ideas and preferences that they communicate through their gaze, body language and vocalisations. The Infant Pledge states clearly what babies and very young children should expect from those around them, and can be printed off as a poster.
Inspiring Scotland Digital Directory
The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Third Sector Service Directory provides information for midwives, health visitors, and families across Scotland.
Maws – Our Journey with Perinatal Mental Health
This is an educational film that has been produced to help those suffering from Perinatal Health Conditions – mother’s experiences to help other mothers.
Perinatal Mental Health Posters
A series of posters and supporting animations, developed by Public Health Scotland targeting mums, partners and staff to help raise awareness of mental health during the perinatal period.
Useful Reading
We have gathered a range of different papers and reports which will provide you with helpful background reading into infant and maternal mental health.
- From Bumps to Bundles: a research paper exploring Perinatal Mental Health in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
- Delivering Effective Services: Needs Assessment and Services Recommendations for Specialist and Universal Perinatal Mental Health Services
- Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health: Review of Evidence and Provision in Scotland (Internship Project Report)
- Perinatal Mental Health Curricular Framework
- Understanding Paternal Mental Health Training: an evaluation summary from the Understanding Paternal Mental Health Training delivered by Fathers Network, September 2024.