Perinatal Mental Health Services

Pregnancy, the birth of a baby, and the first year of life are exciting and life changing experiences for a woman and her family. For some women this can be a time of mixed emotions, including feelings of anxiety and sadness, particularly if they have pregnancy complications, other stresses in their lives or if they have a history or previous mental health disorder. In fact, mental health difficulties are very common during this period, with approximately one in ten women experiencing significant symptoms of depression and / or anxiety during pregnancy and / or the first year of their baby’s life. Treatments are effective and can prevent negative impacts on the woman, her baby and her family.

The services we offer include:

• Advice and information about your mental health problem and treatment options
• Providing therapies that have been shown to be particularly effective in pregnant and postnatal women, such as:
  • Cognitive behavior therapy
  • Interpersonal therapy
  • Marital (couple) therapy
  • EMDR (a specific therapy for Trauma)
• Prescribing and helping patients to understand the risks and benefits of taking medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
• Assisting women with severe or recurrent or chronic mental health difficulties in planning a future pregnancy.

As we are situated at Sidra Medicine, we are able to offer women who receive obstetrics care at Sidra additional services including:

• Liaising with obstetricians and midwives, neonatologists and pediatricians, anesthetists, lactation consultants and social workers to provide care for you, your baby and your family during this precious
• Providing mental health consultation and support to women who are admitted to Sidra for inpatient pregnancy, delivery and / or postpartum care.

We are not inpatient or emergency service. If inpatient or urgent treatment is required, we will facilitate a referral to a care provider who can give you the necessary treatment and support.

• We can provide information about local and national organizations you and your family may find helpful.
• We can provide advice and information for your husband and other family members so they can understand your difficulties and know how best to support you.
• We can provide recommendations for your mental health care when you are discharged from Sidra’s perinatal mental health service and referral to other services if needed.

Some of the common problems we assist with include:

• Excessive stress
• Anxiety – particularly women who have excessive worry about their pregnancy or their baby, or have fears of medical procedures and childbirth
• Depression or persistent low mood/ not enjoying pregnancy or baby
• Adjustment difficulties to motherhood
• Trouble bonding with baby
• Dealing with a complicated pregnancy
• Women with a past history of mental health disorder, or currently receiving mental health treatment
• Pregnancy loss

We accept referrals from across Qatar. You can ask your family physician, general practitioner, obstetrician or psychiatrist to refer you. If they need more information, you could suggest they look at the Sidra website which has information about making a referral. You can also refer yourself or a family member.

Our providers are fluent in a number of languages including English, Arabic, Hindi and Urdu – we have access to interpreters for most other common languages.

Even if you are already under the care of a mental health service, it can be helpful to have specialist advice from a perinatal mental health service. We can work jointly with your mental health provider(s) and are also happy to liaise with other health care providers who are involved in your care.

We will review the referral and may phone you to ask some questions to help us to work out whether your needs are suited to treatment by our service and to select the most appropriate team member to see your for your assessment (this will be a psychiatrist or psychologist, who will be selected depending on their particular skills, language spoken and time available). We will contact you by phone to organize and appointment.

Your first appointment will last for one to two hours. We will ask you about any current symptoms and difficulties and also ask questions about your past. We will then give you feedback from our assessment and information and advice about treatments that can help you. We will work with you to develop a plan for your care and treatment during pregnancy and post-natal period.

Please arrive 30minutes before your appointment.

You are very welcome to bring your baby with you to your appointment. Some women prefer to arrange for someone else to look after their children. You can bring your husband, or another family member or friend with you, if you want to.

Everyone referred has an electronic health record set up. This is confidential and can only be accessed by professionals who are involved in your care. Your health record contains basic details such as your telephone number and date of birth. Information about your appointments, care and treatment is recorded.

Any information we send or receive about you is also added to your health record. Psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists and other health professionals use this information to make sure that you receive the best possible care. Some women would prefer their record contains as much detail as possible, so that their other healthcare providers can understand them well and so they don’t have to keep repeating information. Other women prefer only a small amount of information to be shared – such as your diagnosis, the main concerns and the plan for your care. Talk to any of the professionals from the perinatal mental health service about the information you are happy to share.

If you are not sure whether your problem is suitable for our service, you are welcome to call our nurses to discuss it, and she will provide further information.