We use our collective influence to ensure all women throughout the UK who experience perinatal mental health (PMH) problems receive the care they and their families need, whenever and wherever they need it.
Over the last decade, the MMHA's Everyone’s Business campaign has led to:
Thanks to focused and sustained work, there have been fantastic new levels of NHS investment in specialist services for women with the most severe and complex maternal mental health needs: £365 million over 5 years in England, followed by £98m/year long-term funding; £2.5 million in Wales; £50 million in Scotland; and £4.7 million In Northern Ireland.
In England alone, this has led to new community services being set up in over 100 areas, and four new inpatient Mother and Baby Units.
26 new dedicated Maternal Mental Health hubs across the country, which help and support 6,000 new, expectant or bereaved mothers per year. Read our mapping report here.
I have worked in perinatal mental health for over 40 years and only recently – largely due to the Maternal Mental Health Alliance – are we seeing the breakthroughs.
National stakeholder
The Alliance has consistently engaged key decision makers, using evidence-based tools alongside personal stories of perinatal mental illness, while also taking into account the political context and health needs within each nation.
We have become the respected voice for the maternal mental health sector - the ‘go-to’ place for spokespeople, information and insight, with a social media following exceeding 24,000 and 6,500 website visitors on average per month. The support of our new Royal Patron has brought a new audience and more attention to our work.
The Alliance’s members and Lived Experience Champions span all four nations, which means we are uniquely placed to impact national policy and practice, as well as share learning across regions.
We support mums, dads, siblings and grandparents from across the UK to share their stories to help raise awareness, reduce stigma, and influence change.
The MMHA is a fantastic organisation that does a stellar job of ensuring lived experience shapes everything from national ad campaigns to clinical audit projects.
Holly, Lived Experience Champion
Our campaign’s focus on specialist PMH services acted as a catalyst to spread services across the PMH pathway.
In response to Covid-19 pandemic, the MMHA produced wellbeing guidance for women and families, and commissioned and launched the report, ‘Maternal Mental Health in a Pandemic’.
Too often PMH gets forgotten, the MMHA showed leadership and – as ever – made sure the needs of women, babies, and families were being considered.
Independent evaluation has revealed that the MMHA's approach has resulted in a significant transformation of maternal mental health care in the UK. Furthermore, the collaborative campaigning methods have garnered international attention, inspiring the creation of the Global Alliance for Maternal Mental Health (GAMMH) and the African Alliance for Maternal Mental Health (AAMMH), with more national and pan-country Maternal Mental Health Alliances following suit.
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