NHS CPFT – Perinatal Trauma & Loss Service (PTLS)

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CPFT's Perinatal Trauma and Loss Service offers assessment, psychological treatment and specialist midwifery support for women and birthing parents experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties after the loss of a baby during pregnancy or the first year of life.

Dr Zoe Rawlings introduces PTLS:

What to expect

The Perinatal Trauma & Loss Service (PTLS) supports women and birthing parents across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who have lost a baby in the past two years at any stage during pregnancy or within the first year of life. PTLS is part of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

If the loss of your baby is having a significant impact on your mental health and you wish to receive support from PTLS, you can discuss a referral with a health professional currently involved in your care. This could be your GP, midwife, health visitor or mental health practitioner. If you are unsure whether your current mental health difficulties would meet the PTLS criteria, please discuss this with your health care professional. If they are unsure, they can contact the team to discuss this on your behalf. There’s more information for professionals, including a downloadable referral form on this link.

If you are referred to PTLS, meet their criteria and decide to opt-in for support, you will be given an initial assessment. This can be online or in person and lasts up to 90 minutes. It will give you the opportunity to say, in your own words, the difficulties and challenges you are experiencing in relation to the loss of your baby. To help understand your experience, you will also be asked about your fertility journey, experience of maternity care, early life experiences and any past mental health challenges and support you have received. You’ll also be asked about what is important to you, what your hopes are for the future and what goals you may wish to work on with support.

After this assessment, if PTLS is the most suitable service to offer support, you will be offered psychological therapy tailored to your needs and/or specialist midwifery support if your previous experience of loss is affecting how you feel about pregnancy and birth in the future.

More information

There’s more information about PTLS on this website link – you can see who’s who in the team, find out more about the psychological therapies available and more detailed information about the referral process.

If you would like to find other sources of support for women, birthing parents and family members after the death of a baby, take a look on this website link. There are also birth trauma and injury support organisations on this website link.

If you need immediate support with your mental health, you can always reach out to your GP. If you need urgent help, please call the First Response Service on the NHS 111 helpline and select the mental health option.

How to contact

Where to go

Available throughout Cambridge
UK

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