Direct guidance
What to know or do
Ask for a perinatal mental-health assessment when rituals, reassurance seeking or avoidance consume time or impair daily life. Use urgent help if you may act, cannot stay safe or lose contact with reality.
What changes the answer
- How long the change has lasted and how it affects sleep, eating, self-care and safety
- Past diagnoses, trauma, treatment response, medicines and relapse warning signs
- Privacy, practical support, coercion, immediate danger and who can stay with you
Check with your care team
When to get individual help
Contact your doctor or maternity service promptly and describe the timing, severity, associated symptoms and pregnancy week so they can choose the right assessment.