Promoting Excellence In Psychological Health & Wellbeing
NHS England launches new open access perinatal mental health online learning programmes
Today we are pleased to announce the launch of two new perinatal mental health learning programmes on the elearning for healthcare platform. The two new learning programmes are Perinatal and Infant Mental Health and Routine Outcome Monitoring in Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service.
Both programmes are open access and have been developed to support the NHS Long Term Plan ambition by ensuring at least 66,000 women with moderate-severe/complex perinatal mental health difficulties will have access to specialist community care.
Perinatal and Infant Mental Health online learning
We have worked with the Parent Infant Foundation and partners to design learning to upskill and increase awareness of perinatal mental health among professionals working in settings supporting women during pregnancy and up to 24 months after birth, including parent-infant relationship services, maternity services, primary care, charities, and community groups.
The aim of the learning is to ensure the wider workforce can feel more confident to provide quality support, care and/or treatment for mum, baby and family members, at the right time wherever they are.
There are 11 modules, and each takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete either in a small group or individually at the learner's own pace. The learning will be beneficial for those who have a good understanding of perinatal mental health and those who have not explored this topic before.
Keith Reed, CEO at Parent Infant Foundation, said:
“The programme will help more practitioners and professionals understand what babies and toddlers need at different developmental stages. It will train a wider range of professionals and practitioners to recognise signs of distress in babies and to understand infant mental health.”
To find out more about the learning and to enrol, visit Perinatal and Infant Mental Health elearning. We have also created a short film to introduce the learning programme.
Routine Outcome Monitoring in specialist perinatal mental health services online learning
We have worked with Anna Freud and key partners to help specialist perinatal staff use Routine Outcome Measures to continually assess the results of the care and treatment they provide to patients in order to, where appropriate, make adjustments and improvements. The learning has been adapted from the Implementing Routine Outcome Monitoring in Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Manual.
There are 12 learning modules, each takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and can be completed at the individual’s own pace.
Dr Giles Berriford FRCPsych, National Specialty Advisor for Perinatal Mental Health at NHS England, said:
“As healthcare professionals we put evidence right at the centre of the care and treatment we provide. What this learning teaches is an approach of routine evaluation and review, to make sure we are always thinking about how the care we provide can me improved for the benefit of the patient.
“I would encourage all those working in specialist perinatal mental health to complete the training.”
To find out more about the learning and to enrol, visit Routine Outcome Monitoring in Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service elearning. We have also created a short film to describe the benefits of the learning programme.
To help you share both learning programmes widely, we please use our stakeholder communications toolkits:
- Communication Pack - Perinatal and Infant Mental Health online learning
- Communication Pack - Routine Outcome Monitoring in Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services e-Learning
If you have any questions about this learning, please do not hesitate to contact us at