What is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week?
Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week is a week-long campaign dedicated to talking about mental illness during and after pregnancy.
It’s all about raising public and professional awareness of perinatal mental illness, advocating for women affected by it, and helping them access the information, care and support they need to recover.
When is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week?
Monday 4th May – Sunday 10th May
Who is it organised by?
The week is organised and led by MMHA member, the Perinatal Mental Health Partnership UK (PMHP UK), who launched the first ever UK Maternal Mental Health Matters Awareness Week in 2014.
Things this year have been a little different due to Coronavirus, and PMHP UK had planned to postpone the awareness week. However, after consultation with support groups, parents and professionals supporting families, the week will go ahead, but with a revised COVID-19 focus.
What is this year’s theme?
The theme this year will be ‘Supporting mums during difficult times’.
This theme enables PMHP UK, and the wider community, to provide a supportive platform to reassure families, signpost them to vital resources and offer safe support; something that is needed now more than ever.
Daily themes
Each day will be themed and have its own unique hashtag:
Online activities
#PNDHOUR
Following on from the success of the last three years, Rosey from PNDandMe, also a member of PMHP UK, will be running #PNDhour on Wednesday 6th May at 8pm.
You can follow Rosey on Twitter @PNDandMe and details of the subject to be covered will be announced shortly
Facebook Lives
PMHP UK will have a full series of interactive live video sessions, run from their Facebook page, focusing on maternal mental health:
Each day will be themed and have its own unique hashtag:
PMHP UK will also be running a session on Facebook with fellow MMHA members Action on Postpartum Psychosis and collaborating on content with the Institute of Health Visiting and Tommy’s. More details on these will be announced shortly.
People watching the live sessions will be able to interact with the hosts, ask questions and they will be available permanently to playback via their facebook page.
There will also be watch sessions of previous awareness week Lives, including the following topics:
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- Perinatal OCD
- Getting support from Healthcare Professionals
- An overview of Postpartum Psychosis
- Young mums and their mental health and wellbeing
- The influence of BAME maternal community groups and mental wellbeing
- Breastfeeding and antidepressants
- Post-adoption depression
- Peer Support in the perinatal period
- Engaging with health care professionals and accessing peer support
- Recovery and talking to your children about your illness
- Dads and mental health
Resources you may find helpful
- A directory of maternal maternal mental health support services during COVID-19, with an overview of the illness, symptoms and resources from PMHP UK member, Eve Canavan
- Support for women and families
- MMHA members’ COVID-19 perinatal mental health guidance for health professionals and parents
What can you do to get involved?
- Follow PMHP UK on social media:
- Use the #supportingmumsduringdifficulttimes and #maternalmhmatters hashtags on social media when referring to the week and the daily specific hashtags if relating to the daily theme
- Tag PMHP UK in any posts during the week
- Highlight what your organisation/charity/support group does to help families affected by perinatal mental illness, with particular reference with how you are offering support during the COVID-19 period.
Media requests
PMHP UK are more than happy to support media requests and will promote your activities for the week! Contact them via perinatalmhpartnership@gmail.com.