Please note: this event has passed
KCL Psychiatry Society and KCL Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society are delighted to invite you to join us in watching the recent Louis Theroux documentary 'Mothers on the Edge', with a very special talk from Dr Trudi Seneviratne, the psychiatrist who runs the Mother and Baby Unit which features in the documentary.
Dr Gertrude (Trudi) Seneviratne OBE, MBBS, FRCPsych, Consultant in General Adult and Perinatal Psychiatry. She qualified as medical practitioner in 1992 from St Bartholomew’s Medical School, subsequently training in psychiatry at St Bartholomew’s, City and Hackney Mental Health Trust, followed by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM). She is also a researcher with Professor Channi Kumar at the Institute of Psychiatry.
She has been a perinatal psychiatrist for 24 years working across the entire care pathway from liaison, specialist community perinatal services, the Parenting Assessment Service to the acute inpatient service at the Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) at the Bethlem Royal Hospital.
As a Consultant Psychiatrist, now Clinical Director, she has supported the development of Perinatal Mental Health Services, locally and nationally, through Royal College Psychiatrists. She has been involved in developing national standards for perinatal services and accredited numerous services across the UK, as well as being involved in many research projects over the years. An important recent outcome was data from the MBU which demonstrated excellent outcomes for parents/babies. She has been an active educator over the years.
A recent example is the innovative Multi-professional Simulation Training Package in Perinatal Mental Health.
She has held numerous national roles
- member and vice chair of the national Clinical Reference Group- Perinatal Mental Health Services, NHS England
- a member of the ‘All Party Political Group (APPG) 1001 Critical Days Campaign’ and has given several talks at Parliament to influence policy and service investment.
In 2016, she was elected Chair of The Perinatal Faculty, Royal College Psychiatrists. This is a national and international role promoting perinatal mental health services, maintaining standards for services and perinatal psychiatrists, training/education (doctors and other disciplines) as well as supporting research in the area. In 2019, she was awarded an OBE for services to Perinatal Psychiatry.
Louis Theroux returns to the UK to spend time in specialist psychiatric units which treat mothers experiencing serious mental illness whilst allowing them to live alongside their babies. Immersing himself on the wards, he meets women who have been admitted with a range of serious conditions - including depression, anxiety and psychosis - often triggered by birth or the strains of motherhood. As he follows the patients and their families both in hospital and recovering back at home, Louis explores what lies behind their recent crisis and discovers the immense challenge in caring for two people in the most vulnerable state of their lives.