About the service:  The Reproductive Mental Health Service (RMHS) is an interdisciplinary team of clinicians who work collaboratively to provide specialized outpatient mental health services to women who are pregnant/postpartum and are currently experiencing moderate to severe psychiatric symptoms with significant impairment related to perinatal issues.  Referrals for consultation are accepted from within the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the Atlantic region.  Ongoing care will be determined by proximity to the IWK Health Centre or degree of regular attendance for other medical care.    

Who we help:    Women, aged 19 years and older, who are at least 12 weeks GA or less than 9 months post-partum (for patients under 19 years of age, please contact IWK Central Intake Service by calling toll-free at 1-855-922-1122).  Referrals to Reproductive Mental Health must be from the patient’s family physician, obstetrician, midwife, nurse practitioner or an attending physician in order to provide coordinated care. Referrals are triaged based on clinical urgency, which is determined by the information provided at the time of referral.   The Reproductive Mental Health Service is not intended to provide primary psychiatric treatment for long term illness/difficulties unrelated to perinatal issues as our ability to follow patients is for a short-moderate span of time.  We are not an emergency service and acutely ill or at risk patients should be seen by the ER based mental health service for their geographic area.  We recognize the importance of establishing long-term therapeutic relationships between patients and clinicians; therefore, we do not seek to replace current ongoing psychiatric care.  We are happy to provide secondary consultation to any interested mental health clinician at their request.

How we help:  Clinicians provide short- to moderate term individual psychotherapy, group therapy and psychiatric consultation services.        

How to get in touch with us: We are located on the Main Level of the Women’s Site on the IWK Health Centre Campus.  Our contact information is as follows:

Link: Reproductive Mental Health -  Helpful Websites and Resources 

Mailing Address -       Reproductive Mental Health Service

            IWK Health Centre

PO Box 9700

Halifax NS B3K 6R8

Telephone Number -   902-470-8098, we do have confidential voice mail available 

Fax Number -              902-470-6760