Dr Heather O'Mahen (her/she)

Orcid ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3458-430X

Heather O'Mahen is a Professor of Perinatal and Clinical Psychology.  Her work focuses on improving equitable access to effective psychological treatment, particularly during the perinatal period. This work spans four streams of work:

(1) understanding individual and contextual factors associated with better treatment outcomes,

(2) understanding factors affecting need and access,

(3) using this knowledge to adapt and test treatments, and

(4) working with policy makers, service providers and people with lived experience to implement change.

Professor O'Mahen's research has been funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Medical Research Council (MRC), and philanthropic funding. Her clinical trials have included some of the first digital interventions for perinatal depression, and she is currently leading ACORN-II, an NIHR-HTA funded multi-site trial of a remotely delivered group-based intervention for pregnant women and birthing people with anxiety and their partners/or a close family member.

Professor O'Mahen's research has been included in NICE guidance and has contributed to shaping the provision of services and policy in perinatal mental health. She co-led with Dr. Sarah Healy on the Perinatal Competency Framework and Positive Practice guidance for NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression. She has served as an executive lead on the NHS England funded national Perinatal Clinical Psychology Training programme since 2018, and helped to found and deliver the SouthWest Regional Perinatal Mental Health Champions and Supervisor’s training programme.

Professor O’Mahen has been serving as a National Clinical Advisor to NHS England’s Perinatal Mental Health Team since 2022. She is currently co-leading the James Lind Alliance Perinatal Mental Health Research Prioritisation Exercise with Prof. Fiona Alderdice and the Karen Middleton from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance. She is also lead of the mental health stream for the NIHR Women’s Health Collaborative Group. Professor O'Mahen is an Executive Member of the Perinatal Faculty of the British Psychological Society.