Rhonda Marriott

This chapter considers factors influencing parental and infant mental health and social and emotional wellbeing. Perinatal depression and anxiety is a significant health problem affecting not only mothers but also their infants, other children, partners, extended families and communities generally. The significance of infant attachment in the perinatal period (from conception to the end of the first year after the baby is born) and the importance of culture and ways of working with families in this sensitive life stage are described. Perinatal mental health is about the emotional wellbeing of pregnant women and their infants, partners and families during this time. This chapter discusses the risk and protective factors that impact on parental mental health and social and emotional wellbeing. It refers to processes of assessment and the issues related to culturally appropriate prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of perinatal depression and anxiety; and its potential impact on the infant, other children, parents, family and community. The key policies that impact on perinatal mental health and relevant preventative programs are briefly described.

This chapter discusses and defines the difference between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary/interprofessional care with a focus on interdisciplinary care as a model of practice which supports equality and interconnectedness of responsibility amongst team members when working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts. The chapter describes the various professional and para professional practitioners that comprise interdisciplinary teams working in mental health and wellbeing contexts and their roles. The focus is on an interdisciplinary team approach to providing health and wellbeing care as its ethos of equal relationships and interdependent collaboration is more encompassing of social and emotional wellbeing values. Identification of the issues and limitations of interdisciplinary practice and the means to addressing them are explored within the context of how interdisciplinary care fits into mental health best practice and human rights.