This episode discusses perinatal mental health. Approximately one in five women in the UK experience mental health issues during pregnancy and up to one year after birth, and if left untreated they can lead to long-lasting effects on mothers, infants and the wider family.

In recent years, significant funding has been invested in specialist perinatal mental health services but there are disparities in access to these services and experiences with health and social care professionals.

This episode explores the role of social workers in perinatal mental health, the risk factors of developing perinatal mental illness and the red flags to look out for that may indicate a new or expectant mother is struggling with perinatal mental health issues.

The guests are Tara Mitchell, a registered social worker and operations manager of the perinatal mental health service at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Wan Abdullah, a mother with lived experience of perinatal mental illness.

Asking the questions is Gemma Balmford, assistant content editor, Community Care Inform Adults.

Subscribe to the Learn on the go series to stay up-to-date with new episodes. Look out for the next episode in Season 1, which will be released at the end of April. 

Links

Royal College of Psychiatrists
MBRRACE-UK
Tavistock and Portman 
The perinatal mental health elearning programme 
Maternal Mental Health Alliance

This episode discusses perinatal mental health. Approximately one in five women in the UK experience mental health issues during pregnancy and up to one year after birth, and if left untreated they can lead to long-lasting effects on mothers, infants and the wider family. In recent years, significant funding has been invested in specialist perinatal mental health services but there are disparities in access to these services and experiences with health and social care professionals. This episode explores the role of social workers in perinatal mental health, the risk factors of developing perinatal mental illness and the red flags to look out for that may indicate a new or expectant mother is struggling with perinatal mental health issues. The guests are Tara Mitchell, a registered social worker and operations manager of the perinatal mental health service at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Wan Abdullah, a mother with lived experience of perinatal mental illness. Asking the questions is Gemma Balmford, assistant content editor, Community Care Inform Adults. Subscribe to the Learn on the go series to stay up-to-date with new episodes. Look out for the next episode in Season 1, which will be released at the end of April.  Links <a href="https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/members/your-faculties/perinatal-psychiatry" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal College of Psychiatrists</a> <a href="https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MBRRACE-UK</a> <a href="https://tavistockandportman.ac.uk/study/what-we-teach/perinatal-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tavistock and Portman </a> <a href="https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/perinatal-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The perinatal mental health elearning programme </a> <a href="https://maternalmentalhealthalliance.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Maternal Mental Health Alliance</a>

Learn on the go is the Community Care Inform podcast where practitioners, trainers, consultants, academics and researchers discuss practice, research, and theories and what they mean for social workers. Listening to episodes is a convenient way to learn and refresh your knowledge when you don’t have much time to read or prefer other ways of getting information and reflecting on your practice.

We’ve been recording Learn on the go on an ad hoc basis since 2017. Over these eight years our podcast audience has grown, and in 2025 we made the decision to start recording Learn on the go in seasons. We launched Season 1 Episode 1 in January 2025.

During each season, episodes are released monthly on the last Friday of the month and all episodes appear on Inform Adults and Inform Children or you can subscribe to Learn on the go through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Learn on the go is the Community Care Inform podcast where practitioners, trainers, consultants, academics and researchers discuss practice, research, and theories and what they mean for social workers. Listening to episodes is a convenient way to learn and refresh your knowledge when you don’t have much time to read or prefer other ways of getting information and reflecting on your practice.   We’ve been recording Learn on the go on an ad hoc basis since 2017. Over these eight years our podcast audience has grown, and in 2025 we made the decision to start recording Learn on the go in seasons. We launched Season 1 Episode 1 in January 2025.   During each season, episodes are released monthly on the last Friday of the month and all episodes appear on Inform Adults and Inform Children or you can <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/learn-on-the-go/id1268644821" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe to Learn on the go through Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/17Hqmsd9mouCwMfXUpf4GD" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

We discuss the latest research, theories and practice issues, and look at what they mean for social workers.

Learn on the go: the Community Care podcast

This episode discusses perinatal mental health. Approximately one in five women in the UK experience mental health issues during pregnancy and up to one year after birth, and if left untreated they can lead to long-lasting effects on mothers, infants...