PANDAS Foundation UK

Free Perinatal Mental Health Support for Parents, Carers and Families

Who It’s For: Any parent, carer, partner or family member affected by perinatal mental illness — from conception through pregnancy, birth and beyond. This includes postnatal depression, antenatal depression, postnatal anxiety, birth trauma, postpartum psychosis and other perinatal mental health conditions. Support is available to all genders.

What They Offer: PANDAS Foundation is the only free UK-wide support service dedicated to perinatal mental health for parents, carers and their wider network. Run entirely by trained volunteers — many of whom have their own lived experience of perinatal mental illness — PANDAS offers a helpline, callback service, text and email support, online and in-person peer support groups, and a growing range of educational workshops and wellbeing programmes. Their new NEST programme introduces four additional services supporting perinatal mental wellbeing from the antenatal period onwards.

Support Includes:

Free helpline — phone support daily
Free callback service — book online, a trained volunteer will call you
Text support service
Email support
Online and in-person peer support groups
The NEST — new perinatal wellbeing programme including antenatal support
Social media support channels — manned daily with positive, educational and motivational content
Guidance and signposting for family members and carers supporting a parent with perinatal illness
Training and awareness sessions for businesses and healthcare organisations

Referral / Access: Self-referral. No referral needed. Call the free helpline, book a callback online, or reach out via text or email. All services are free and confidential, run by trained volunteers.

Why This Matters: Becoming a parent is one of the biggest changes a person can go through — and perinatal mental illness can make that time feel frightening, shameful and very lonely. PANDAS understands this deeply, because the people who answer the phone have often been there themselves. Whether you are struggling before your baby arrives or months after, whether you are the parent or the person watching someone you love suffer, PANDAS is here and will not judge you.