Dumfries & Galloway Health & Social Care

Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Interventions Team

Who we are

We are a team of two clinical psychologists. We have specialist training to support your psychological and emotional needs during pregnancy and in the postnatal period up to the baby’s first birthday. We provide help across Dumfries and Galloway.

What we do

Pregnancy and birth can be a time of significant emotional adjustment. A number of factors may impact on a parent’s emotional well-being over the course of their pregnancy and postnatal journey. These may include:

  • Medical complications related to the current pregnancy or birth experience
  • Hyperemesis Gravidarum (extreme nausea and vomiting in pregnancy)
  • Having previous difficult experiences related to pregnancy, birth or neonatal care
  • Having a baby cared for in the neonatal unit
  • Having experienced pregnancy or baby loss
  • Having a specific phobia, such as a fear of giving birth (also called tokophobia)
  • Facing complicated antenatal or postnatal emotional adjustment processes

How to access support

Please ask your Midwife, Health Visitor, Obstetrician, GP, Neonatal Nurse or Doctor if you would like to speak with someone from the Maternity and Neonatal Psychology team.

Members of the team visit the Neonatal Ward every Thursday afternoon 2.30-4pm to talk about the service and offer listening conversations. You don’t need a referral to access this Time to Talk option.

Our support can be:

  • Evidence based psychological therapies including cognitive behavioural therapy, compassion focused therapy and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Individual and family work

What my appointment will look like

Following referral, you will be contacted by one of the team for a face to face or Near Me (video) assessment appointment so we can make sense of your difficulties and discuss what support you might need.

You can be offered appointments: at your home; at a local Health Centre; Maternity Unit, Neonatal Unit,  Mountainhall Treatment Centre or by Near Me video link. We welcome you to bring your partner and baby with you if this is helpful.

An appointment usually lasts for around an hour.

What support involves

The time spent with us is tailored to best suit your needs, feelings and concerns.. One appointment might be enough or we might decide to arrange further appointments. Sometimes we suggest other support options such as recommended self help.

You may be offered an assessment and then if appropriate evidence based psychological therapy. For more information, please visit the Adult Mental Health webpage

We work closely with Health Visitors, Family Nurse, Obstetricians and Midwives involved in your care.

We can signpost partners to appropriate support services if needed.

The MNPI Team is based at:

Psychology Department
Mountainhall Treatment Centre
Bankend Road
Dumfries
DG1 4AP
Telephone: 01387 244495
Monday – Friday 9am-5pm

We are also present on the Neonatal Unit at DGRI on a Thursday afternoon and offer informal listening conversations.

We work closely with these services as part
of the wider Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Service

The Perinatal Mental Health Team provides specialist support from conception to the infant’s first birthday. For more information, visit the team webpage

Wee Minds Matter is an Infant Mental Health service which supports the parent-infant relationship from 1- 3 years of age. For more information, visit the Wee Minds Matter webpage

For more information about our services, download the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Services leaflet

For more information about help from third-sector organisations, download the Third Sector Support leaflet

To learn more about support for families of infants in a neonatal unit, download the Wellbeing for Families leaflet