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Scottish Government announce new funding for perinatal mental health services

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The Scottish Government has published its programme for government, which includes a package of measures to do more to support positive mental health and prevent ill health. This includes a focus on perinatal mental health, which Maternal Mental Health Scotland and the Maternal Mental Health Alliance believe is a positive step for the improvement of services in Scotland.

We look forward to hearing more about the detail of this announcement, and what it means for specialist perinatal mental health services in Scotland, as well as those provided by the Third Sector. Perinatal mental health is #everyonesbusiness.

The full Programme for Government can be downloaded here. Perinatal mental health is mentioned on page 64:

Conference 2018: eye opening content and powerful personal stories

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance Conference 2018 was an inspirational event, filled with eye opening content and powerful personal stories from lived experience.

Delegates said the day offered fresh perspectives, new insights and lots of opportunities for expanding networks across the perinatal sector.

One delegate mentioned that she encountered ideas that she hadn’t considered before and took away lots of learning to help reach the ‘missing’ families in her area.

Lived experience was a key theme of the conference this year and our speakers’ personal stories created a real buzz in the hall and on social media.

“Powerful personal story from in breakout A. Moved us to tears #MMHAconf2018“

“Wow! 58% of live births in London are to women born outside the UK #MMHAconf2018“

“Humbling to hear from members of the learning disability parent network about being pregnant and having a baby when you have a learning disability.”

Self-confessed ‘Glam Geek and Proud Sikh’, and mental health campaigner DJ Neev Spencer was a firm favourite with the audience. She shared her own experience of PND before presenting the annual perinatal mental health awards .

Dr Laura Wood’s comments echoed many:

“Home from #MMHAConf2018 I’m inspired & encouraged. And I’m so thankful for our incredible community & for my place in it. You really have changed my life x”

Huge thanks to Katrina Jenkins for organising and co-presenting the awards with DJ Neev Spencer, and to Dr Alain Gregoire for keeping the day on track.

 

Missed any of the presentations? Check out full list here.

 

DJ Neev Spencer announces Perinatal Mental Health Awards 2018 at the Maternal Mental Health Conference   

DJ, broadcaster and campaigner Neev Spencer presented the 2nd annual perinatal mental health awards at this year’s Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) conference Diversity: Understanding and Reaching the Missing Families.

The Perinatal Mental Health Awards were announced at the MMHA conference on 6th September 2018 at Imperial College, London.

The awards are for services and individuals who show excellence in the categories of inclusivity; anti stigma; peer support; training and family focus.

Neev Spencer said:

“As a passionate campaigner for mental health, and with my own experience of postnatal depression, I am so excited to recognise outstanding practice in perinatal mental health.

“My own experience of postnatal depression has motivated me to raise awareness of maternal mental health and the reality that many mothers face in coping with perinatal mental health difficulties.

“Until I experienced postnatal depression, I never thought it was something that could affect me. Many mothers don’t talk about how they’re feeling and get the support they need early on. That’s a real shame because once we talk about it, it frees us to move on from the experience and to get the support that we need.  I am passionate about raising awareness of mental health and especially pleased to present these awards.”

The award winners are:

  1. Anti-stigma Award for Perinatal Mental Health Awareness-Raising

Winner: Have you seen that girl?

Highly commended: The Perinatal Mental Health Partnership

 

  1. Perinatal Peer Support Award.

Winner: Mothers for Mothers

Highly commended: Action on Postpartum Psychosis

 

  1. Perinatal Mental Health Education and Training Award

Winner: Mellow Parenting

Highly commended: Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

 

  1. Family-focused Award for engaging and involving the whole family in perinatal work, supporting family members’ mental health alongside the parent-infant relationship during the perinatal period.

Winner: Building Attachment and Bonds Service

Highly commended: Amanda Tamlyn, perinatal and infant mental health specialist, Sussex Community Foundation Trust

 

  1. Big Lottery Diversity and Inclusivity Award, for showing innovation in meeting the needs of a diverse range of families experiencing perinatal mental health difficulties.

Winner: MumsAid

Highly commended: Leeds Women’s Counselling and Therapy Service

 

 

 

 

MMHA: new charitable status and new funding

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) has registered as an independent charity.  We have appointed a Board of Trustees and will launch our new trustee pages on the website soon. MMHA worked with alliance members to set up the new structure and register as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).

The MMHA is thankful to our host organisations, Action on Postpartum Psychosis and the Mental Health Foundation, for all their help over the last few years in providing the support and infrastructure needed to enable the Alliance to campaign and improve perinatal mental health services for women and families.

We are very happy to announce that Comic Relief has agreed a further grant for the Everyone’s Business campaign and associated MMHA costs, starting in October 2018. This will enable MMHA to continue working towards a vision to see all women across the UK get consistent, accessible and quality care and support for their mental health during pregnancy and in the year after giving birth.

 

DJ and broadcaster Neev Spencer to present perinatal mental health awards 2018

We are delighted to announce that DJ and broadcaster Neev Spencer, the biggest British Asian female broadcaster in the UK and a passionate campaigner for mental health, will present the annual perinatal mental health awards at this year’s Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) conference Diversity: Understanding and Reaching the Missing Families.

The Perinatal Mental Health Awards will be announced at the MMHA conference on 6th September 2018 at Imperial College, London. The awards are for services and individuals who show excellence in the categories of inclusivity; anti stigma; peer support; training and family focus.

In addition to talking about her own struggle with postnatal depression following the birth of her daughter, Neev has spoken with the Duchess of Cambridge on maternal mental health and made a film on postnatal depression with the Heads Together campaign. Last year she joined MMHA’s chair Dr Alain Gregoire as an expert panellist on the BBC 5 Live ‘Mum Takeover’ and worked on ‘The Mental Health Minute’ when 300 radio stations in the UK joined together on Mental Health Awareness Week.

Book your ticket for the conference here.

Follow us on @MMHAlliance using #MMHAconf2018 #MABIM. Follow Neev @neevofficial.

The annual MMHA conference is funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund.

Come and share your ideas – show them on a poster at the MMHA conference

Come and be part of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance conference “Diversity – understanding and reaching the missing families.” on 6th September, Imperial College London.

For the first time, this year we are inviting poster presentations from families who have lived experience of perinatal mental health difficulties, as well as academics, clinicians and service providers. We are particularly keen to see stories from families who have diverse experiences and backgrounds.

Posters need to be A2-sized and can use any medium to reflect your experiences: words, photography, images – whatever you need to get your experiences across.

Submit your poster by 20 August here. Click here for an easy guide to creating your poster presentation

In the growing field of perinatal mental health, there is a huge range of fantastic work happening around the country. Our poster presentations provide an opportunity to showcase your work and inspire others.

This year’s conference theme is “Diversity – understanding and reaching the missing families.” Topics covered include culture and migration, women with learning disabilities, women in the criminal justice system, military families, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families and more…

Winners of the 2018 Perinatal Mental Health Awards will also be announced at the Conference,  

Tickets available here.  Submit your poster idea here

 

 

 

 

Organising the Maternal Mental Health Alliance Conference 2018

by Katrina Jenkins, Project Manager Families, Children and Young People’s Programmes 

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance Conference 2018 is an annual event dedicated to stimulating debate and the sharing of ideas for good practice in the field of perinatal mental health. This exciting event is organised by the Mental Health Foundation on behalf of the  Maternal Mental Health Alliance (of which we are a member).

This is how I became involved in this national conference. As Project Manager in the Families, Children and Young People’s Programmes team at the Mental Health Foundation, my role includes the organisation of this year’s Conference.

Each year, the Maternal Mental Health Conference delivers a unique theme which corresponds to pertinent areas of interest in perinatal mental health.

I was fortunate to have been able to attend the conference last year, on the theme of Intergenerational mental health: working with mums and babies in perinatal mental health practice. Along with 250 other delegates, I gained a wealth of learning and deepened my understanding of how a whole-family approach can break the intergenerational cycle of mental health problems.

I am even more excited about the theme for this year’s Maternal Mental Health Conference – Diversity: Understanding and reaching the missing families. This topic is uniquely interesting as it offers an exceptional opportunity to explore important but seldom-heard voices in perinatal mental health. Continue reading Organising the Maternal Mental Health Alliance Conference 2018 →

Latest campaign e-bulletin published

The Everyone’s Business campaign e-bulletin is now out, including details on new campaign maps launched, an England update, perinatal mental health discussed at Scottish parliament and a briefing paper from the Centre for Mental Health now available.

Download it here.

Please circulate far and wide and if you are on Twitter please retweet the e-bulletin from @MMHAlliance using the hashtag #everyonesbusiness.

If you would like to receive the e-bulletins directly please sign up to our mailing list using the box on the right.

Maternal Mental Health Roundtable commitments published

Last Autumn, the MMHA Everyone’s Business Campaign and the Department of Health, represented by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Mental Health and Inequalities Jackie Doyle-Price MP, co-hosted a roundtable meeting.

Attending this meeting were key national stakeholders who were brought together to discuss perinatal mental health. All organisations represented made pledges to help continue progress for perinatal mental health services.

The commitments have now been published and can be viewed here.

Continue reading Maternal Mental Health Roundtable commitments published →

International Fathers’ Mental Health Day

Today, June 18th, is International Fathers’ Mental Health Day, raising awareness globally about the need to get better support for dads.

Around 10% of fathers can experience mental health problems in the first year following the birth of their child. The international campaign is being led from the UK by Dr Andrew Mayers (a mental health campaigner and educator at Bournemouth University) and Mark Williams (a Bridgend dad who developed mental health problems after his wife experienced birth trauma, but is now a global campaigner for parents). They are working with partners in the USA and Australia.

Continue reading International Fathers’ Mental Health Day →