Best practice in perinatal care

Supporting & advising health professionals on best practice in perinatal care

A key focus of COPE is to support and advise health professionals on best practice in perinatal care. This encompasses the prevention, detection, treatment and management of perinatal mental health disorders in the perinatal period.

All advice on this site is based on high quality research and/or clinical advice from leading perinatal mental health experts and is underpinned by the Australian Clinical Practice Guideline for Mental Health Care in the Perinatal Period. Commissioned by the Commonwealth Government of Australia, this Guideline was developed by COPE and approved by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in April 2023 and is now available.

Download Guideline

This section provides extensive information on:

Perinatal mental health disorders: symptoms, assessment and management
Australian Clinical Practice Guideline: background and development
Helping patients under Medicare

Tailored Guideline Summaries

To browse information specifically tailored for your occupation, please select from one of our Perinatal Mental Health Guideline summaries:

Register as Best Practice Provider with COPE, Centre of Perinatal Excellence

Registering your service as a Best Practice Provider demonstrates your commitment to providing best-practice quality perinatal care that aligns with the Australian Clinical Practice Guideline.

The registration process requires you to declare your organisation’s commitment to meeting COPE’s accreditation standards including:

Promoting awareness of emotional and mental health, plus psychoeducation available for clients
Informing Health Professionals of the availability of perinatal mental health training and education
Using recommended screening and psychosocial assessment for all clients/patients
Providing referral pathways to timely, appropriate treatment and support services