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SWH adopts new screening tool for perinatal health

Thursday, 26 May 2022

South West Healthcare supports the highest standards of care, including the emotional and mental healthcare of all expectant mums and new mums, and with this in mind we are making changes to our perinatal mental health screening.

For almost 20 years SWH’s Primary Mental Health Team together with our Women’s Health team and midwives have provided universal screening for women during pregnancy and the first year of their child’s life (the perinatal period). Screening for at-risk mums assists us to identify women who need additional mental health support to connect to services they need. Today SWH are now one of two public hospitals in Victoria who are adopting the iCOPE screening tool to continue to build on this work.

 

The iCOPE screening tool is a world-first digital screening tool to support perinatal mental wellbeing. The app has been created by the Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE) and enables perinatal mental health screening via survey to be undertaken across all clinical settings, from in-person to remote screening via SMS. The new service is now being used at SWH’s Warrnambool Base Hospital and Camperdown Hospital.

 

We believe that every new parent should have the same opportunity to access the mental wellbeing support they need, when they need it.

 

To learn more you can listen to this ABC South West interview with COPE’s founder and Executive Director Nicole Highett:

 

Page last updated: 30 November 2023

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