Spreading the word by Clare Dolman

APP was represented at several conferences in 2010, both nationally and internationally. We started off in London in March at the Mental Health Research Network’s (MHRN) Service Users’ Annual Conference. Delegates at the day-long event visited the APP display and took newsletters away with them to spread the word about our new website. Even more people did the same at the two-day Scientific Conference of the MHRN in April which was held at Bristol.

In June we had a whole team attending the annual Conference of MDF the Bipolar Organisation held at Birmingham University’s Medical School. Because of the high risk of postpartum psychosis for women with bipolar, our stand attracted a great deal of interest from women and their partners eager to find out about the risks and the best way to cope with them.

In the Autumn, we ventured further afield to Pittsburgh, USA, for the Biennial International Conference of the Marcé Society. The Society was named after Louis Victor Marcé, a French psychiatrist who wrote the first treatise entirely devoted to perinatal mental illness, published in 1858. Its principal aim is to promote, facilitate and communicate about research into all aspects of the mental health of women, their infants and partners around the time of childbirth. With hundreds of delegates from all over the world attending, this was a great platform to tell people about APP and make them aware of our resources for women who have suffered postpartum psychosis – and for health workers who need to learn more about the condition.

I gave a presentation telling delegates about the work on recovery that members of APP produced with Dr Jess Heron and a team of researchers in Birmingham last year. Dr Jess Heron gave a presentation about ‘Women's satisfaction with Mother and Baby Unit care versus other models of postpartum psychiatric care’. Dr Jones gave a keynote speech about new research into Postpartum Psychosis. There was a lot of interest, especially from American colleagues, in the potential of the APP website as a source of support and information for women in this situation wherever they live in the world. APP got another mention on the main stage when Dr. Ian Jones accepted the Marcé Medal for his outstanding contribution to perinatal psychiatric research.

We are extremely grateful to the Mental Health Research Network Heart of England Hub for providing a small grant to enable women with experience of PP to attend and present research at UK and International conferences.