My thoughts are with the family of Charlotte Bevan and her daughter Zaani Tiana (‘Chain of failings’ led to death of Charlotte Bevan and her newborn baby,coroner rules, 9 October). As described in the inquest report, and the failings started when Charlotte was pregnant and there was no appropriate care diagram in place. This is not uncommon,as perinatal mental health (PMH) is a very neglected area in the maternity services in the UK.
The majority of units do not contain a committed consultant obstetrician and/or a specialist midwife in PMH. As a result, pregnant women with mental health conditions are often not identified early, and counselled adequately (regarding the use of medication) and directed to the appropriate services in a timely manner. This is often complicated by the fact that the electronic patient record systems used by the maternity and psychiatry services are different and therefore information-sharing is often a genuine challenge. This also leads to poor communication with GPs,health visitors and other community care teams. Pregnant women often elope from pillar to post for advice and support but fail to get them in time. in addition, due to lack of training, or maternity staff often do not feel comfortable in providing adequate evidence-based information.
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Source: theguardian.com