Pregnancy in Mind is a preventative mental health service designed to support expectant parents who are at risk of, or currently experiencing, mild to moderate anxiety and low mood during their pregnancy.
It helps parents manage any difficulties they are experiencing and builds their capacity to provide sensitive, responsive care to their babies through the post-natal period and beyond as their children develop.
Pregnancy in Mind is a perinatal 8-week group intervention delivered by professionals after the first trimester of pregnancy. It aims to protect against the impact of parental anxiety and depression during pregnancy through building relationships, knowledge and skills.
The programme is underpinned by six core evidence-based themes:
Expectant parents can attend the programme between 12- and 34-weeks’ gestation. However, referrals can only be accepted between 12 and 26 weeks of pregnancy and the programme should be completed by their 34th week.
Referrals can be accepted for the pregnant person, their partner or the parent of the unborn baby.
Pregnancy in Mind is for those who are at risk of or already experiencing mild to moderate anxiety and low mood. Attendees do not have to have a formal diagnosis of anxiety or depression.
As we are keen to provide the service to those that are not yet experiencing symptoms but might be at increased risk, we are also interested in receiving referrals for expectant parents who:
Between 10% and 20% of women will experience depression and anxiety at some point across the perinatal period (Department of Health and Social Care, 2022). Some may not meet the criteria for an official diagnosis of depression or anxiety, but their experiences still cause them significant distress (O’Hara and Wisner, 2014).
Difficulties with mental health during pregnancy can have a lasting effect on some children (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2020). Stress chemicals produced by women experiencing depression or anxiety can affect their unborn baby’s development (O’Donnell et al, 2014). Anxiety and depression during pregnancy can also increase the risk of postnatal depression, which can impact the quality of care provided after the baby is born (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2020).
It’s important to identify parents-to-be who are at risk early and ensure they get the support they need. More than half of all parents with perinatal anxiety and depression are not identified and many others who are diagnosed still experience barriers to accessing evidence-based forms of treatment (Bauer et al, 2015).
When symptoms are identified, expectant parents often struggle to access the support they need. Services often focus on a pregnant person’s symptoms but fail to tend to the developing relationship with their baby (Darwin et al, 2021). In addition, services often ignore the mental health of fathers or partners in the perinatal period, or the important role that they play in their partners’ and babies’ lives.
Previous outcomes evaluations of Pregnancy in Mind (PiM) found there were significant improvements in a range of outcomes for parents who attended.
A 2020 process evaluation found statistically significant improvements were recorded in parents’ anxiety, depression, parent-foetal attachment and relationship quality scores on standardised measures after they attended (Thomas et al, 2020).
> Read the Pregnancy in Mind 2020 process evaluation
When a virtual model of the programme was adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, a follow-up evaluation found that there were still statistically significant improvements in outcomes measured before and after the intervention, with reductions in parents’ anxiety and depression scores (McElearny et al, 2021).
> Read the Pregnancy in Mind 2021 COVID-19 report
Both studies, however, were limited in that they did not have a comparison group which means we cannot be confident that the changes observed were down to the intervention.
We want to build on this evidence by having a more robust impact evaluation which includes a comparison group.
First we will conduct a feasibility study to explore the acceptability and practicality of different impact evaluation designs. We will test out measures with non-NSPCC delivery sites, considering issues such as numbers of evaluation measure returns and attrition levels.
If this evaluation finds that an impact evaluation will be viable then we would look to follow this up with a larger scale study.
As part of this evaluation we want to learn if PiM improves:
We will use qualitative and quantitative methods in our feasibility and impact studies if they progress to that stage.
To find out if Pregnancy in Mind is delivered in your area, view our list of national and regional hubs on the NSPCC website.
For any inquires on delivering the service, please email pim@nspcc.org.uk. Please refrain from sharing personal, confidential, or sensitive information to this email address.
If you are working with expectant parents who might benefit from Pregnancy in Mind share our leaflets and video with them to learn more about it.
Download PiM leaflet to share with parents (PDF)
Download bilingual Welsh/English version PiM leaflet to share with parents (PDF)
Bauer, A. (2015) Lifetime costs of perinatal anxiety and depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 192 pp. 83-90.
Darwin, Z., et al (2021) Assessing the mental health of fathers, other co-parents, and partners in the perinatal period: mixed methods evidence synthesis. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11.
Department of Health and Social Care (2022) Perinatal Mental Health: Better Mental Health JSNA Toolkit. [Accessed 10/02/2025].
Kingston, D., et al (2012) Prenatal and postpartum maternal psychological distress and infant development: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 138(1-2), pp. 138-149.
McElearney, A. et al (2021) Process evaluation of Virtual Pregnancy in Mind during the COVID-19 pandemic. London: NSPCC.
O’Donnell, K.J., et al (2014) The persisting effect of maternal mood in pregnancy on childhood psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 26, 393–403.
O’Hara, M.W. and Wisner, K.L. (2014) Perinatal mental illness: Definition, description and aetiology. Best Practice and Research Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 28(1): 3-12.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2020) Antenatal and postnatal mental health: clinical management and service guidance. [Accessed 10/02/2025].
Thomas, E., et al (2020) Pregnancy in mind process evaluation. London: NSPCC.