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Since 2019, the Scottish Government has invested over £26 million in improvements to perinatal services and support for parents, infants and families across Scotland. This investment has facilitated a substantial increase in services and workforce across Scotland.

The Scottish Government also supports the Perinatal Mental Health Scotland Network which provides support to health boards on all aspects of service development, training, supervision and good practice.

Our investment also supports NHS Education Scotland to undertake workforce development and training, including a suite of training accessible to all professionals across Scotland.

The Scottish Government will continue to invest in perinatal and infant mental health to enable boards to recruit the required staff; to further establish specialist community perinatal and infant mental health services and to deliver on Scottish Government commitments towards perinatal and infant mental health in the long term.

The Scottish Government has worked with the Scottish Recovery Network to develop a Perinatal Peer Support Resource, which launched on 20 April 2023 and can be found at the following link - Let's do Peer Support: Bump, Birth & Beyond - Scottish Recovery Network . The toolkit includes advice, hints and tips for peer support workers, including how to deal with difficult topics which they may find triggering. The toolkit also helps to ensure that peer supporters are also maintaining their own recovery and wellbeing. Peer support workers also have access to the National Wellbeing Hub, which supports everyone working in health and social care services in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17825 on 22 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Building on the Peer Support Evidence Review and Peer Support action plan the Scottish Government has worked with Inspiring Scotland and Evaluation Support Scotland to co-produce an Evaluation Toolkit for perinatal peer support, together with third sector partners. This was published on 1 March 2023 and provides guidance on how to complete an evaluation plan and apply it to their work.

To recognise and celebrate the benefits of peer support and experience we established an annual Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health Event which brings together hundreds of practitioners from across Scotland to showcase good practice. These events highlight and celebrate the role of peer support in supporting and complementing clinical work.

We recognise the value of peer support as a key component of perinatal mental health support. However, we are clear that this does not replace the need for clinical services where that is required to help individuals and their families.

The Scottish Government is supporting clinical service provision by investing in the development and implementation of Community Mental Health Services, Mother and Baby Units, Infant Mental Health and Maternity Neonatal Phycological Interventions services. This is creating capacity within clinical services to ensure they are well placed to offer effective perinatal support in every health board across Scotland, with peer support services complementing clinical work.

NHS Boards have local governance for peer support roles which will include the scope of the role, confidentiality and supervision arrangements. Mother and Baby Units can access guidance on peer support worker roles and the support which should be provided for them from Perinatal Mental Health Network Scotland.

The Scottish Government is funding a range of peer support models to improve perinatal mental healthcare across Scotland. These include paid peer support workers, volunteer peer support workers, peer support in specialised mental health services, peer support in marginalised groups and informal peer support including online services.

The Scottish Government established an annual peer support event to bring together practitioners across Scotland to showcase good practice and highlight the work being undertaken across localities. This shares knowledge and creates an opportunity for learning and understanding on how to effectively implement peer support tools to reach everyone in Scotland who needs support.

Through the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund And Small Grants Fund, we provide funding for both father specific and whole family work. From 2021 to March 2023, we have provided over £1 million to groups including Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire, Quarriers, CrossReach, Sure Start Midlothian, Dads Rock and Fathers Network Scotland. This includes funding for peer support groups for new fathers, which can provide a valuable source of support.

We have also committed to working with Fathers Network Scotland to better understand the evidence around mental health within the perinatal period for fathers and partners.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with Inspiring Scotland and Evaluation Support Scotland to co-produce an Evaluation Toolkit for perinatal peer support, together with charities in our third sector fund portfolios. This Evaluation Toolkit was published on 1 March 2023.

The Scottish Government Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund provides £80,000 per year to support Amma Birth Companions which provides trauma-informed emotional and practical support to vulnerable women who would otherwise experience birth without a partner or who are likely to face significant barriers to accessing perinatal care. The individuals they support are mostly refugees, asylum seekers and people living in poverty. Amma's service include birth and postnatal companionship, antenatal classes and peer support activities and aims to support the wellbeing and life chances of both mothers and fathers.

Remote and rural services face challenges due to how geographically isolated some of the communities are throughout Scotland. The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund therefore also supports multiple organisations across rural Scotland to provide services to remote areas, these services include Action for Children services in the Western Isles, Home Start Caithness, South Lanarkshire and many more. They provide non-clinical, community based parenting and peer support services which help women and families affected by, or at risk of, perinatal mental health difficulties.