Mental illness affects 1 in 5 women during pregnancy and the first year postnatal and in about 1 in 20 women the condition is serious. When a woman with major mental illness becomes pregnant she and her child face a number of risks. These include poor pregnancy and neonatal outcomes and a sharp rise of psychiatric admissions after childbirth. Mental illness is also one of the leading causes of maternal death. Risks to children are impaired parenting and developmental disadvantage in emotional, behavioral and cognitive domains. Parental mental illness also has a significant role in infanticide and abuse-related serious harm to children, with infants <1 year old being most at risk.

A recent analysis has shown that the resulting economic costs to public services and the wider society are extremely high. In view of the wide-ranging consequences, a number of European countries have set up specialized perinatal mental health services. These consist of specialized inpatient units and community teams. The essential components of their service are preconception counselling, expert advice on the use of medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding, joint inpatient admissions of mothers and babies, interventions to improve parenting, and advice to children's social services. None of these countries, however, are yet offering universal access.

In order to improve service provision and outcomes it is important that perinatal mental health is acknowledged more widely as a public health priority. The workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to discuss approaches to raise awareness and promote perinatal service developments.