All posts by fiona.salter

Perinatal Positivity Pot: Using creative practice for maternal mental health and wellbeing

Guest blog by Holly Latham, Lived Experience Coordinator

Growing research has shown that arts, crafts, creative writing, music, and dance can be incredibly beneficial in supporting mental health.

In celebration of Friday’s theme for Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, it’s time to focus on hope, recovery, and self-care. 

As someone who personally experienced postnatal depression after the birth of my daughter, I’ve been prompted to reflect on what helped me through those dark days. While there was a myriad of things that helped, such as family support, talking therapy, medication, and time, it was engaging in creative practices, particularly stitching, that made a profound impact on my recovery and continued wellbeing. Continue reading Perinatal Positivity Pot: Using creative practice for maternal mental health and wellbeing →

Tommee Tippee and the Maternal Mental Health Alliance are working together for brighter futures

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) is pleased to announce a partnership with Tommee Tippee. Over the next two years, we will work together to shine a light on perinatal mental health and reach more families with education, tools, spaces, and support during this significant period in their lives.

This partnership is a first for the MMHA, and we are looking forward to collaborating with a global brand that is part of so many families’ everyday lives. Continue reading Tommee Tippee and the Maternal Mental Health Alliance are working together for brighter futures →

Sapna’s story

In Asian culture, girls are expected to become mums and not complain if they do begin to
struggle. That’s not right or fair.

Sapna’s story (Bristol)

After I had my first child, I felt very anxious around him, and I didn’t want to be left alone with him. Feelings of inadequacy filled my head, and I also felt that everyone was judging me as a mum.

With my second child, all the difficult emotions I experienced with my son resurfaced. It really knocked me off my stride and I constantly feared I would get things wrong as a mother.

No one should be left behind

Thankfully, where I lived, I could access a lot of helpful services for free. I received CBT [cognitive behavioural therapy] for my anxiety and attended a lot of community-based workshops for mums, such as mindful art activities and befriending schemes. I also received a lot of parenting support through my local health visitor service and children’s centre. I know I am one of the luckier ones and that some people living in other areas don’t receive anywhere near the help they need. This postcode lottery of support needs to end now. No mum should be left behind when they’re struggling with maternal mental health issues.

We need to break the stigma

I hope that sharing my story shows that things can get better when you receive the right support. But the situation must improve. Pregnant women and new mums need easy access to specialist support such as talking therapies and parent and infant therapy groups. As an Asian woman, I also hope my story helps to break the stigma that surrounds maternal mental health support in ethnic minority communities. In Asian culture, girls are expected to become mums and not complain if they do begin to struggle. That’s not right or fair.

Sapna works as a peer supporter and administrator at MMHA member organisation Mothers for Mothers.

If the content of this story causes you to think of anything that has happened to you or someone you know and you feel upset, worried or uncomfortable, please see our support page for a list of services that may be able to help.

 

Chrissy’s story

I felt pressure as a Black mum that I’d be judged and not listened to. I was scared my children would be taken away.

Chrissy’s story (Kent)

I was filled with anxiety after the birth of my second child. I was in tears all the time but reluctant to tell anyone. I felt pressure as a Black mum that I’d be judged and not listened to and scared my children would be taken away if I spoke up.   

I finally told my GP but my experience with them felt like a tick-box exercise. I filled in one questionnaire and was prescribed antidepressants. No other support was offered. Yet I know I would have greatly benefited from the support of other mothers and talking therapies.

Free mental health sessions

After my first child, I set up the Motivational Mums Club. But it was my experiences after the birth of my second child that led to me investing more time and energy into it. Today, it offers mothers and birthing people free mental health sessions with fully qualified psychologists.

Break the stigma

My goal is to raise awareness of the mental health issues pregnant women and new mums face and to work with community leaders and organisations to help them get the support they need.

As a Black woman, I’m also passionate about breaking the stigma that surrounds maternal mental health in ethnic minority communities. Women need to feel safe to speak about their mental health without the fear of being judged. 

 

In addition to the Motivational Mums Club, Chrissy also established Young Positive Minds. It provides a range of interactive workshops and resources to give children and teenagers the tools they need to become resilient and deal with the mental health challenges they encounter. 

If the content of this story causes you to think of anything that has happened to you or someone you know and you feel upset, worried or uncomfortable, please see our support page for a list of services that may be able to help.

Eleanor’s story

I was assigned a perinatal mental health nurse and a nursery nurse, who worked with my baby and me on our bonding. It was invaluable being under their care.

Eleanor (Bromley)

The scariest part of my PND [postnatal depression] was the intrusive thoughts I had about harming my baby. I realised that this wasn’t just ‘the baby blues’ and contacted a great mental health midwife who I’d been referred to during my pregnancy because of previous episodes of depression.

I told her what had been happening, and how I was feeling and answered her questions. She coordinated everything for me. I was referred to my local perinatal mental health team, encouraged to speak to my GP about medication, and it was suggested I look into counselling. I felt a huge amount of relief just having this conversation.

Support at home really helped

However, the day after I spoke to the midwife, I hit a lower point and ended up in A&E. The crisis team there gave me the option of going to a mother and baby unit but I felt like I had enough support at home.

I was given medication to help with my anxiety and intrusive thoughts and was referred to the home treatment team, who visited me daily for two weeks. It was reassuring to have someone coming to our home to touch base throughout this crisis.

After this point, my care was taken over by the community perinatal mental health team. I was assigned a perinatal mental health nurse and a nursery nurse, who worked with my baby and me on our bonding. It was invaluable being under their care, and after six months I was discharged.

I’m really enjoying being a mum

Alongside the help of the perinatal team, I also accessed peer support through a Mindful Mums course and a weekly meeting with MMHA member organisation, PANDAS. The moment I realised how far I had come was when my baby was napping one day and I found myself thinking, “Wake up! Let’s hang out and have some fun!”

I still have intrusive thoughts sometimes but I’ve made peace with them, and they don’t scare me anymore. I have worked to understand them and why they happen, and this has helped hugely. My bond with my daughter is so strong now, and I’m really enjoying being a mum. We’re a great team!

 

If the content of this story causes you to think of anything that has happened to you or someone you know and you feel upset, worried or uncomfortable, please see our support page for a list of services that may be able to help.

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) responds to the launch of NHS England’s long term plan

January 7th saw the launch of the NHS Long Term Plan, setting out their ambitions for health care in England, including many positive goals for perinatal mental health.

Commenting on the publication of the NHS long term plan, The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) Director Emily Slater welcomed the plan’s announcement and commitment to women and families in England, in particular the news of an increase in services to benefit more women and the extension of specialist mental health support for new parents, which will now be offered for two years after the birth of their child.

Emily Slater said:

“The Maternal Mental Health Alliance is really pleased to see that the NHS has committed to expanding perinatal mental health services and helping more women and families access vital treatment. The details of the long-term plan signals that the NHS wants to build on the success it has had creating specialist perinatal mental health services to ensure more women and families can access essential, lifesaving support.”

Continue reading The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) responds to the launch of NHS England’s long term plan →

MMHA welcomes news that partners of new mums with mental illness set to get support on the NHS

This statement from the NHS in England is warmly welcomed as it acknowledges the important unmet need for mental health support and treatment faced by many new fathers, and by partners of women who are themselves suffering mental health problems.

This will require services within and outside the NHS to work together, enhancing detection of mental health problems and providing the right care for those individuals, as well as for parents jointly, and for their relationships with their babies.

A great deal is already being done by NHS England, with new Government money, to improve specialist mental health care to mothers with severe mental health problems. We look forward to seeing these improvements continue, now coupled with improvements in care for fathers, mothers and partners across all levels of mental health need, from specialist mental health services, talking therapies, GPs, and health visitor and maternity services.

The MMHA Everyone’s Business campaign has a champion network of experts by experience and this includes Raj’s story, highlighting the need for further support and information for fathers and partners.

Urgent Need For Improved Mental Health Support For New Mums In Northern Ireland Is Everyone’s Business, says MMHA

Thousands of pregnant women and new mums in Northern Ireland who suffer from mental health problems are at risk of receiving inadequate levels of support, new research has found.

The research, from NSPCC Northern Ireland, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors (CPHVA), has found increased strain is being put on  midwives and health visitors across Northern Ireland with the issue currently receiving insufficient attention from policy-makers.

In Northern Ireland, this will affect approximately 2,400 to 4,800 live births each year[1]. If untreated, perinatal mental illnesses can have a devastating impact on women, babies and families.

The new report, Time For Action, published on 26th November by NSPCC Northern Ireland and partners, highlights gaps both in the identification of mental health illnesses and the response provided to women once they have disclosed problems or been detected in primary care. In its key recommendations, the report calls for the development of specialist services for women including a mother and baby unit for women who need close care and supervision and a training standard on perinatal mental illness for all professionals in Northern Ireland who care for women during this period.

MMHA’s Northern Ireland Co-Ordinator Lindsay Robinson said:

“If left untreated, perinatal mental health conditions can have devastating consequences for women and their families and we know that many hundreds are affected by these problems every year in Northern Ireland.

“There are clear national guidelines setting out that specialist services for women are vital. Despite this, Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK which has not invested in them.

“Specialist perinatal mental health services save lives – that’s why we’re calling for the development of specialist services for women in Northern Ireland, including a mother and baby unit for women who need close care and supervision. ”

Midwives and health visitors who took part in the research stressed that continuity of care and face to face time with mothers and babies is crucial for improving identification of problems and providing support.  But the research found that this was undermined by underfunding, overwork and growing levels and complexity of demand.

While the research found that health visitors and midwives in Northern Ireland experience similar types of challenges in identifying and responding to perinatal mental illnesses as their counterparts in the rest of the UK, professionals in Northern Ireland have not benefitted from the levels of investment made in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK which has not committed to investment of funds in perinatal mental health, despite major funding (£390m) having been pledged via the Barnett formula in 2016.

The report calls for:

  • A training standard on perinatal mental illness for all professionals in Northern Ireland who care for women during this period;
  • A review of ways of working within midwifery and health visiting services to improve continuity of care and the time that these professionals have to spend with women;
  • Clarification on the use of screening tools, and review of training needs around ‘how’ midwives and health work with women, including advanced practice skills around disclosure;
  • Greater alignment of the role of professionals to respond to perinatal mental health needs, and also support the parent-infant relationship and infant’s mental health; and
  • Development of specialist services for women including a mother and baby unit for women who need close care and supervision.

 

The research involved a survey of 332 health visitors and midwives located across all five Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland[1]. The survey covered the following topics: recognition, referral and management of perinatal mental illness; training; and opportunities and challenges. It also gathered demographic information

A cautious estimate based on 2016 workforce census headcount data put the final survey sample at approximately 23 per cent of the health visitor population and 15 per cent of the midwife population (rounded to the nearest percent). See Department of Health and NISRA: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/ni-health-and-social-care-workforce-census-march-2016.

 

MMHA responds to MBRRACE report into UK maternal deaths

Today the latest UK Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths has been published by MBRRACE-UK.

This year the report – Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care 2018 – examines in detail the care of women who died during or up to one year after pregnancy between 2014 and 2016 in the UK and Ireland from mental health conditions, blood clots, cancer, and homicide, and women who survived major bleeding.

Maternal suicide is the fifth most common cause of women’s deaths during pregnancy and its immediate aftermath, and the leading cause of death over the first year after pregnancy.

The report states that “there is now greater awareness of the importance of mental health during pregnancy and in the first year after birth. But there is still a long way to in recognising symptoms, supporting women with mental health problems and providing access to specialist perinatal mental health care.”

Maternal deaths are not evenly spread across the population. Black women are five times and Asian women two times more likely to die as a result of complications in their pregnancy than white women.

In response, Dr Alain Gregoire, Chair of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance said:

“The human tragedies described here emphasise the urgency of addressing the gaps in perinatal mental health care in pregnancy, postnatally and pre-conceptually.

The enquiry shows that maternal suicide is the fifth most common cause of women’s deaths during pregnancy and its immediate aftermath, and it remains the leading cause of death over the first year after birth.

Alongside improvements in specialist mother and baby mental health services – that are becoming evident in England and Wales, women need professionals in all services to be as interested, knowledgeable and skilled in mental health care during maternity as they are in their care of women’s physical health. Women and babies also need services to work together and to have the capacity and resources to provide routine detection, prevention and treatment, and crisis care, all of which are needed to ensure care is both effective and safe.”

Read the full report on the MBRRACE-UK website.

Marce 2018 – Global Experiences, Global Dialogues, Global Responses

Sally Hogg attended the Marce Society 2018 Biennial, to share learning and gain insights into global best practice in maternal mental health.

It was an absolute privilege to attend the International Marce Society Biennial meeting in Bangalore. The meeting brought together over 500 delegates from 31 countries to discuss the latest science and practice in protecting and promoting maternal mental health. I was there to share learning from the MMHA Mums and Babies in Mind Project, alongside trying to capture useful insights for those at home.

This was the first time that a Marce conference had been held in the Global South. The conference really opened my eyes to the challenges facing Low and Middle Income countries where the vast majority of the world’s babies are born, the prevalence of perinatal mental health problems is particularly high, and there are fewer resources to support families. The conference chair, Jane Fisher, powerfully reminded us that enabling mothers to be healthy is key to enabling children, and therefore societies and economies, to reach their full potential and thrive. Continue reading Marce 2018 – Global Experiences, Global Dialogues, Global Responses →