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Solo obstetric liaison service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sue Smith
Sue Smith*
Affiliation:
Sully Hospital, Hayes Road, Sully, Vale of Glamorgan CF64 5YA
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Abstract

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Aims and method

To set up a liaison psychiatry service for an obstetric department and review how much of the work involved in such a service can be undertaken by a senior registrar in two special interest sessions.

Results

It was clear there was a demand for a service for women with psychiatric problems associated with childbirth. Referrals from colleagues in general psychiatry meant that the available time was soon used up. This did therefore not allow time to develop efficient systems for referral and management or to then see the extra referrals this would have produced. The limited and temporary service was well received by other professionals and by patients. The number of referrals received fell far short of the expected morbidity.

Clinical implications

In an area with this number of births and its consequent level of psychiatric morbidity, it would not seem possible, within two special interest sessions, to develop a more formalised or comprehensive system.

Type
Original papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , January 1999 , pp. 37 - 40
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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