Research shows that OCD is particularly common during pregnancy and in the postnatal period and affects both mothers and fathers. Adapting to caring for a young child is hard enough without OCD getting in the way. The pandemic has made life even more difficult for some parents, and at the same time services have had to adapt to working online. At the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (CADAT) we have developed a new service for parents from pregnancy to three years postnatal which is open to national referrals. In this talk I’ll describe the work of our clinical service during the pandemic and our programme of research to develop tailored support for parents, including refining treatment in pregnancy and a running a parenting with anxiety group.

Dr Fiona Challacombe is a clinical psychologist and clinical lecturer at King’s College London. Her research has examined the impact of perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder on women and children. She conducted the first randomised controlled trial of CBT for postpartum OCD, investigating treatment effects on anxiety and parenting. She is currently investigating treatments for antenatal anxiety disorders. She is a senior clinician at the Maudsley Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (CADAT) where she has developed and leads a sub-service for parents with anxiety disorders. She is author of the self-help book Break Free from OCD and a therapist treatment manual CBT for OCD. A new self-help book, Break Free from Maternal Anxiety is due for publication in 2022.