The Mums and Babies in Mind project ended in 2018 It was a three year, Big Lottery-funded project, hosted by the Mental Health Foundation on behalf of the MMHA. It supported local leaders to improve services and care pathways for mums with mental health problems and their babies.
Part of MABIM’s legacy is the MMHA Resource Hub, which brings together essential resources for UK professionals. You can find links to the latest reports, guidance and online training, toolkits and case studies. The hub is also home to the Pathway Assessment Tool, which can help you rate your local services and pathways against national standards.
Between 10% and 20% of women develop mental health problems during pregnancy or within a year of giving birth (this is referred to as the ‘perinatal period’). When this project began, women in around half of the UK had no access to specialist perinatal mental health services and in other geographical areas, services did not meet the required standards.
Mums and Babies in Mind (MABIM) was a Maternal Mental Health Alliance project, hosted by the Mental Health Foundation and funded by the Big Lottery Fund. It lasted for three years, until September 2018.
The MABIM project was based in Blackpool, Haringey, Southend and Gloucestershire. We worked with local leaders in these areas to improve services for mums with mental health problems during pregnancy and the first year after birth, and their babies.
We used the experience, expertise and enthusiasm of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance to support and motivate those who commissioned and provided services in the four areas. Our aim was to identify the barriers to service improvement and to inform and support effective solutions, hopefully resulting in good quality, evidence-based care pathways including information, support and treatment, at the right time, for all mums who needed it.
We captured the work we did and shared our learnings through online tools and communications to inform and inspire those who commission and provide services across the UK.
We’re confident that the improvement of local services will lead to better care and outcomes for women who experience perinatal mental health problems in the four areas each year, and their babies. Our hope is that the ripple effects of this project will accelerate improvements for more and more women and babies throughout the country.
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