Care setting overview
Perinatal & Women’s Behavioral Health
BH-PERSpecialized psychiatric assessment and treatment that weighs the risks of untreated illness alongside medication, pregnancy, fetal, neonatal, lactation, sleep, and family considerations.
- Care model
- Reproductive mental health consultation and longitudinal care
- Typical pace
- Planned visits across reproductive transitions with rapid escalation during pregnancy and the early postpartum period
- Population
- Patients seeking psychiatric care during preconception, pregnancy, postpartum, lactation, pregnancy loss, infertility treatment, or other reproductive transitions
Common presentations
- Perinatal depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma symptoms, and bipolar disorder
- Preconception medication planning and questions about pregnancy or lactation
- Pregnancy loss, infertility-related distress, postpartum psychosis, and parent-infant concerns
PMHNP priorities
- Clarify reproductive goals, timing, psychiatric history, prior perinatal course, and supports
- Use individualized risk-benefit discussions and current reproductive safety information
- Protect sleep, recognize postpartum emergencies, and coordinate obstetric, pediatric, and psychiatric plans
Care team
PMHNPs, reproductive psychiatrists, obstetric clinicians, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, pediatricians, primary care clinicians, therapists, nurses, lactation consultants, and social workers