2 April 2024

Central and North West London (CNWL) and West London NHS Trusts (WLT) will join together to form a North West London Perinatal Mental Health Provider Collaborative from 1 April 2024.

Provider Collaboratives support health and social care services within a particular region to work more closely with one another, as well as with patients and their loved ones, to improve healthcare.

This Provider Collaborative will take on responsibility for overseeing the delivery of Specialist Inpatient Perinatal Mental Health Services in North West London (NWL), provided by Coombe Wood Mother and Baby Unit, and will also work closely with wider NWL Perinatal Mental Health Services, including Community Services.

It will support CNWL and WLT Perinatal Mental Health Services to work more closely with one another, as well as with patients, their loved ones and other health and social care services to deliver, standardise and improve Perinatal Mental Healthcare in NWL. It will not change how these Services fundamentally operate for women/birthing people, their families and clinicians on the ground, but will simply enhance and improve them through increased collaborative working. This will have a number of key benefits to patients, their families and staff, which are detailed in Appendix B.

Perinatal mental health affects new and expectant mothers, and their partners. It can have a significant impact on a person’s whole life. If you or a loved one is experiencing mental health or emotional difficulties in the perinatal period, support is available- please see Appendix A for further details.

Perinatal Services in NWL


Coombe Wood MBU (Provided by CNWL NHS Trust)

Coombe Wood is a 10 bedded ward providing inpatient treatment and support for pregnant and postnatal women/birthing people experiencing mental health and emotional difficulties, with an emphasis on mother and baby remaining together. It provides a therapeutic environment for mothers to receive treatment, whilst ensuring the safety and ongoing development of their infant.

This Service considers referrals from secondary mental health services, including Perinatal Community Mental Health Services, Adult Community Mental Health Teams, Psychiatric Liaison and Home Treatment Teams.

Please visit the Coombe Wood Mother and Baby Unit page for further information.


Community Provision

Community Perinatal Mental Health Services provide community-based treatment for pregnant and postnatal women/birthing people experiencing mental health or emotional difficulties. These are provided across NWL by both CNWL and WLT- please see a list of Services below (you can also click on the name for further information).

These Services consider referrals from health and social care professionals, including: GPs, midwives, obstetricians, health visitors and other mental health professionals.


Maternal Trauma and Loss Care (MTLC) Service

The MTLC Service is for women/birthing people who experience psychological distress as a result of severe fear of childbirth, birth trauma or baby loss. They are dedicated to helping alleviate suffering and distress. 

This Service is provided jointly by CNWL and WLT. It considers both self-referrals and referrals from health and social care professionals, including: GPs, midwives, obstetricians, health visitors and other mental health professionals. Please click on the links below for further information.

Changes and benefits from working as a PC

The establishment of this Provider Collaborative will transform the way Perinatal Mental Health Services in North West London work with one another, as well as with patients, their families and the wider health and social care system. It will not change how these Services fundamentally operate for women/birthing people, their families and clinicians on the ground, but will simply enhance and improve them through increased collaborative working.

These changes will have a number of key benefits to patients, their families and staff. These include:

  1. Bringing expert clinicians closer to decision-making, ensuring that decisions regarding Perinatal Mental Health Services are taken by those who know the Services and local population best, ensuring changes and improvements are specific and tailored.
  2. Increasing and enhancing women/birthing people and their families’ involvement in directing and improving care, producing care that is more effective and responsive and improving patient and carer experience and outcomes.
  3. Increasing collaboration with wider NWL health and social care services, shifting the focus towards a ‘whole-pathway’, community-based approach to care. This will produce care that is more co-ordinated, connected and holistic from start to finish and is focused on preventative, community-based treatment in place of more restrictive care.
  4. Reducing inequalities in care across NWL, including variation in access, by enabling us to consider and work across the whole NWL population in tandem. This will ensure that all of those in NWL who require Perinatal Mental Health care have an equal opportunity to access this care and that the care they receive is of a consistent quality.
  5. Facilitating sharing of learning and expertise across organisations, services and clinical teams, supporting us to develop and improve services and helping us to address and tackle more complex challenges.

Our Perinatal Mental Health Services in NWL are already well established and CNWL and WLT have a successful track record of working together effectively, in examples such as the Maternity Trauma and Loss Care (MTLC) Service.