This leaflet provides information about anxiety and depression services provided by the NHS through their local IAPT services (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies), and by PANDAS (a charity that offers hope, empathy and signposting for parents from conception through to birth and beyond).
1. NHS IAPT Services
Having a baby can be joyful, exciting and rewarding. However, it is also common for pregnant women and new mothers or fathers to experience anxiety, depression or emotional distress.
As many as one in five women experience emotional difficulties during pregnancy and in the first year after their baby’s birth. This can happen to anyone.
Every London borough has an IAPT service which offers free, confidential talking therapy for people who have symptoms of anxiety or depression.
They give priority to pregnant women and new parents.
It is common for pregnant women and new parents to experience:
Low mood, sadness and tearfulness
Anxiety, worry and tension
Irritability and anger
Difficult or unexpected feelings towards your pregnancy or baby
Poor sleep even when your baby sleeps well
Feeling unable to cope or enjoy anything
Thoughts that you are not a good enough parent
Worrying thoughts about your baby
Anxiety about labour or struggling to come to terms with a difficult labour.
Asking for help
It can be difficult to talk about how you are feeling and ask for help. Common reasons for this are:
You may not know what is wrong
You may feel ashamed that you are not enjoying your baby or coping as you believe you should
You may worry that your baby will be taken away.
Struggling emotionally at this time can happen to anyone. It is not your fault.
Asking for help doesn’t mean you can’t cope or are not able to care for your child. It’s the start of getting the right help and support to ensure you can be the parent you want to be. It is very rare for babies to be taken away from parents, so you should not worry about this.
How an IAPT service can help you
IAPT offers short-term talking therapy to give you space to talk.
The types of therapy offered will vary depending on your local IAPT service. These may include guided self-help sessions with a therapist, cognitive behaviour therapy, couples therapy and counselling.
How to contact IAPT
You can refer yourself to IAPT by phoning your local service directly. Contact details for all London services can be found at:
You may find it hard to contact us yourself. In this case, ask your midwife, health visitor, friends or a family member to help you make that first call. Your GP can also make the referral.
We know that pregnancy and the first year of your baby’s birth is a very important time. We will offer you an assessment and treatment as soon as possible.
What to expect when you contact IAPT
When you first telephone you will be asked for some brief details.
A time will be arranged for you to speak to one of the therapists. This appointment will be booked as soon as possible, usually within a few days.
The first appointment is to find out about your current difficulties. This helps us decide how we can best help you. At the end of the appointment, we will discuss the support options available and agree a plan.
All IAPT services aim to be flexible. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to get the help you need. You can often bring your baby to sessions if you want to. Services usually offer you a choice of locations for your appointment, sometimes in antenatal clinics or children’s centres.
2. PANDAS – help for families
PANDAS is a charity that offer hope, empathy and support for any parent affected by perinatal mental illness.
For more information about PANDAS support services, please follow the link below:
Please speak to a member of staff before or during your visit to the hospital if you require translation.
Accessibility
Please contact the Patient Experience Team on 020 8934 3850 if you need this information in a different format.
For information accessibility please visit Kingston Hospital AccessAble www.accessable.co.uk/kingston-hospital-nhs-foundation-trust
Support services
Visit the hospital website, ask a member of staff, or ring us for details.
www.kingstonhospital.nhs.uk
Switchboard 020 8546 7711
‘Find Us’ page for maps, transport, registering a blue badge, disabled access
Information, advice and support for patients and relatives (PALS) 020 8934 3993
Please speak to a member of staff before or during your visit to the hospital if you require translation support to access Patient Information. Please ring the phone number on your appointment letter, if you have one.
Request More Information
Accessibility
Please contact the Patient Experience Team on 020 893 3850 if you need this information in a different format.
For detailed information on accessibility at Kingston Hospital visit Kingston Hospital AccessAble (https://www.accessable.co.uk/kingston-hospital-nhs-foundation-trust).
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.