Mental health
This web page provides links to information and tools for midwives and other maternity clinicians on mental health issues during pregnancy and links to support services that may be beneficial for their clients. Resources are listed in alphabetical order of the publishing organisation.
Key links
| Organisation | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Australian College of Midwives | National Midwifery Guidelines for consultation and referral | These guidelines are an evidence-based framework for midwives to assist in decision-making and the provision of high quality care to women. |
| Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) | 2017 National Perinatal Mental Health Guideline | Australian clinical practice guidelines for mental health care in the perinatal period. The purpose of these guidelines is to support health professionals in providing evidence based care. |
| Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) | Online training to support best practice in perinatal mental health | Online courses for health professionals to support best practice in perinatal mental health. |
| Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) | Information Hub for Midwives | This site provides midwives with links to training tools, guidelines, screening tools and fact sheets related to mental health in pregnancy. |
| Department of Education - Victoria | Perinatal mental health and psychosocial assessment: a practice resource manual for Victorian maternal and child health nurses | The practice resource manual is aimed at providing Maternal and Child Health Nurses information about clinical guidelines, pathways to care and women centred communication. |
| Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA) | Presentations & Training for Health Professionals | A series of workshops for health professionals provided by PANDA around Australia. |
| Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) | Mental health care in the perinatal period (PDF) | This resource provides advice on Perinatal anxiety and depression, serious mental illness and bipolar disorder for health professionals providing maternity and mental health care to patients. |
| SA Health | South Australian Perinatal Practice Guideline: Screening for perinatal anxiety and depression | Clinical practice guidelines for health providers on screening pregnant women for perinatal anxiety and depression. |
| What Were We Thinking! | What Were We Thinking! For Professionals | Training program designed to help health professionals integrate the What Were We Thinking! Program into mother's groups and seminars. |
| World Health Organization (WHO) | mhGAP Intervention Guide 2.0 for mental, neurological and substance use disorders in non-specialized health settings | This intervention guide provides guidance on what to do when identifying and managing mental health conditions to healthcare providers in primary and secondary care. |
| Organisation | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) | Using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) as a screening tool | The EPDS is a screening tool that is used to assess pregnant women and new mothers for follow up mental health care. This website provides information about assessment and calculating risk scores. |
| Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) | Perinatal screening and assessment tools - ANRQ/PNRQ | This webpage provides links to the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Antenatal Risk Questionnaire. It includes information on how to score responses to these screening tools and instructions for administration. |
| Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services | Kimberley Mum's mood scale | This screening tool is a validated version of the EPDS that is culturally appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women that explores psychosocial protective and risk factors. |
| NSW Health | Resources | This link provides validated versions of the EPDS available in languages other than English. |
| Transcultural Mental Health Centre | Multilingual Mental Health Assessment Tools | This website provides a number of validated tools for mental health assessment in languages other than English. |
| Organisation | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Government Department of Health | Head to Health | Head to health is a collection of Australian online resources and information regarding mental health. Resources included in the resource are funded by the Australian Government. |
| Better Health Channel, Government of Victoria | Pregnancy and your mental health | This website provides information about mental health during pregnancy, offers advice to pregnant women about symptoms and where to get help. |
| Beyond Blue | Pregnancy and New Parents | This website provides a range of resources on mental health during pregnancy and parenthood for pregnant women and their families. |
| Brave Foundation | Support for girls | This page provides links to a range of resources target at teenagers who are expecting or new mums. It includes personal stories from girls who have been through a teenage pregnancy, information on support services and a program for supporting mental health during pregnancy. |
| Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) | Antenatal mental health fact sheets for women and their families | This website provides a series of information sheets and resources on antenatal mental health for women and their families on specific mental health issues. |
| Headspace | Welcome to the Pregnancy pack | Headspace has designed a 30 day meditation to support expecting parents manage some of the stressful thoughts that may come with the changes associated with pregnancy. This link allows users to sign up to try Headspace for free and to access online resources. |
| Healthtalk Australia | Emotional Experiences of Early Parenthood | This website is a resource aimed at supporting people experiencing mental health issues in early parenthood by featuring videos of people from different backgrounds speaking of their experiences with their health conditions. |
| Mind the Bump | Mind The Bump app | This free, evidence-based pregnancy app is aimed at reducing stress during and after pregnancy with mindfulness meditation. |
| Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA) | National Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Helpline | A comprehensive online resource on perinatal anxiety and depression, the PANDA website and national helpline provides support, information and services to women and their families. |
| Perinatal Depression e-Consortium | Mum Space | This website is designed to support the mental health of pregnant women, new mums and their families by connecting them quickly with the different levels of support. The website also provides access to evidence-based online treatments that are based on best practice psychological treatment. |
| Pregnancy Birth & Baby | Mental wellbeing during pregnancy | Pregnancy, Birth & Baby provides advice, support and access to a Maternal Child Health Nurse through a phone and video call line. |
| Queensland University of Technology | Mind Mum app | This free app is designed to help with the emotional challenges that pregnant women and new mothers often experience by providing ideas and activities to help them feel their best. |
| WayAhead | Mental Health During Pregnancy and Early Parenthood | This website provides information about mental health during pregnancy as well as information about treatment and local NSW mental health resources. |
| What Were We Thinking! | What Were We Thinking! | This website provides activities and information about effectively managing common experiences in the early months of parenthood. |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Beyond Blue |
Beyond Blue provides information and support through a helpline, online forums and extensive online resources about mental health. |
|
|
COPE |
This website provides advice about accessing Medicare-funded pregnancy support counselling. |
|
|
Department of Health |
Better Access is an initiative by the Department of Health to more effectively link GP and psychological services. This site provides information for clinicians and patients on the Better Access initiative including how to access telehealth services. |
|
|
Lifeline |
Lifeline provides 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention services online, on the phone and face to face. |
|
|
Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA) |
PANDA is a national helpline supporting expecting and new parents to recover from perinatal depression and anxiety. This website includes contact information, factsheets and resources tailored to the stage of the parenting journey individuals and their families are in. |
|
|
Pregnancy Birth & Baby |
Pregnancy, Birth & Baby provides advice, support and access to a Maternal Child Health Nurse through a phone and video call line. |
|
|
Raising children |
This resource provides links to national and state support services for multicultural communities. |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Perinatal Wellbeing Centre |
Perinatal Wellbeing Centre is an ACT-based organisation providing support for families in Canberra. This website provides contact information for support services, details on support groups and guidance on identifying signs of mental health issues. |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Gidget Foundation Australia |
Other support services for those suffering from Perinatal Depression and Anxiety |
This website links to services that pregnant women can access in NSW for mental health support, including residential care, and support services. |
|
NSW Health |
This website lists mental health services available for women in Western Sydney |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Northern Territory Council of Social Services |
This page provides links and contact information for health and pregnancy care services located in the Northern Territory. |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Peach Tree |
Peach Tree is a Queensland-based peer-led organisation supporting parents' emotional wellbeing. The site provides information on programs, activities and locations within Queensland. |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
SA health |
This website links to services that pregnant women can access in South Australia for mental health support. |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Department of Health and Human Services (Tas) |
This website provides information on accessing mental health services during pregnancy and following birth in Tasmania |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
State Government of Victoria, Department of Health & Human Services |
This resource lists services in Victoria that provide targeted perinatal mental health programs |
|
Organisation |
Resource |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
WA Health |
Provides information about screening and assessment, and referral pathways for pregnant women and mothers in Western Australia |
| Organisation | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Beyond Blue | Dadvice | Beyond Blue has developed resources for men who may be experiencing stress or mental health issues related to entering fatherhood. This site provides a series of videos, assessment tools and information for men. |
| Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perinatal Mental health mapping project (PDF) | Resource that provides information about current practices in screening, assessing and management of perinatal mental health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. |
| Department of Education and Early Childhood Development - Victoria | Mental Health Resources | This webpage provides links to information regarding perinatal mental health disorders, screening and psychosocial assessment, pathways to care and women cantered communication. |
| Healthtalk Australia | Emotional Experiences of Early Parenthood | This website is a resource aimed at supporting people experiencing mental health issues in early parenthood by featuring videos of people from different backgrounds speaking of their experiences with their health conditions. |
| SMS4dads | SMS4dads | This site provides information on the SMS4dads program and the ability to sign up to it. The SM4dads program is targets at expecting and new fathers to provide support and advice on fatherhood. It also includes regular check-ins on men's mental health. |
| Victorian Transcultural Mental Health | Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Perinatal Mental health Resource Portal for Health Professionals | This website provides resources for health professionals working with women from CaLD backgrounds experiencing mental health issues during the perinatal period. |
| WA Health | Aboriginal Health and Health Promotion | A resource package that features Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's experiences to address perinatal mental health issues. |