In England, access to effective treatments for post-natal depression (PND) is dependent on severity and complexity of symptoms. Recently, there has been significant investment in secondary mental health perinatal specific services for women with moderate to severe and complex mental health problems. In contrast, there is a gap in provision for those with mild to moderate and/or severe problems without associated complexity (e.g., social, economic, health and mental health complexity).

The training package had been previously evaluated but not the feasibility of rolling this out into community settings. The course is already accredited by the British Psychological Society for the purposes of continuing professional development and offered online over the period of three weeks. ​ 

The South West AHSN funded project tested the impact and feasibility of this evidence-based perinatal mental health training to upskill charitable sector healthcare professionals working in the community with women with mild to moderate PND symptoms.​ 

Our support was to enable Future Learn to explore the impact of the course on how women are supported postnatally, what components of the course were most useful for different professions taking part in the project, and any barriers to implementation individuals experienced in using their newly acquired skills.  

Next steps include: 

• Supporting Future Learn to roll out their offer to a range of community settings through relationship building with local commissioners and LMNS’​ 
• Exploring opportunities for spread through the Best Start for Life Perinatal mental health funding award (Plymouth, Torbay and Cornwall were selected areas)