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Between one in 500 and one in a thousand women suffer from postpartum psychosis after childbirth. It's an illness which often appears rapidly and without warning and leaves women in the grip of psychotic delusions or of mania. They talk of losing touch with reality and feeling split and fragmented. However, because it's comparatively rare and can happen to women with no history of mental illness, postpartum psychosis may go undiagnosed or be confused with post natal depression. In fact if it's treated properly, recovery from this very severe disorder can be very swift.

Now Radio 4 has been offered unique access to a group of women who have experienced the illness. They're taking part in an art project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, whose aim is to raise awareness of the condition.

As they meet at a workshop and in the artist Joan Molloy's studio they talk openly about what they went through, the hallucinations they suffered in the depths of the psychosis and their journey back to health. They also tackle the difficult topics of whether they wanted to harm themselves or their baby, the decision about whether to have a second child, and their perception of themselves as mothers.

The art project is supported by leading perinatal psychiatrist, Dr Ian Jones, who is working with teams in Cardiff and Birmingham universities to try to discover what it is about the physical experience of childbirth that triggers the illness. He tells us if they were able to establish whether some women had a genetic pre-disposition to the condition, it would be possible to predict which women were at high risk and to take the right steps before rather than after the illness has struck.

Presented by former journalist - Clare Dolman, who suffered an episode of postpartum psychosis herself after the birth of her first child twenty two years ago. She is a trustee of Action on Postpartum Psychosis and now works to raise awareness of the disorder.

Producer: Philippa Goodrich
A White Pebble Media production for BBC Radio 4.

APP again featured at the annual conference of MDF the Bipolar Organisation held in London.

Rachel Perkins OBE was among the speakers, and workshops will included a Q & A session on medication with MDF Bipolar Vice Chair Dr Nick Stafford, advice on benefits and allowances, and a discussion forum led by Professors Nick Craddock of BDRN and Steven Jones of the Spectrum Centre.

There was also be a workshop entitled Thinking about Motherhood: Bipolar, Pregnancy and Childbirth led by Dr Ian Jones, Reader in Perinatal Psychiatry at Cardiff University and Clare Dolman MDF Bipolar Chair of Trustees – both members of APP’s Board.

We were delighted to support MDF the Bipolar Organisation – the only national charity for people affected by this disorder – in the staging of their conference and really enjoyed a fascinating day – and a great chance to network!

Gaynor believed in making a difference. She was a passionate advocate for research, believing that we must do everything we can to understand puerperal psychosis and bipolar disorder: the condition that finally took her life. She was a “Research Champion” for the Bipolar Disorder Research Network (BDRN) and advisor to Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) making an invaluable contribution to our work. Gaynor featured in the Stephen Fry documentary “The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive” discussing the difficult decisions that she and other women face when considering pregnancy. Although the documentary was unable to do justice to our complex discussions, she believed that it was important that the issues were raised. She believed in better services for women making difficult choices regarding pregnancy.

Last year we chaired a workshop at the national MDF conference on pregnancy and childbirth. The room was packed and the discussion heated but when Gaynor spoke about her experiences, everybody listened. Al- though she was very unwell after his birth, it was obvi- ous to me that she was a wonderful and devoted moth- er to Thomas. Her untimely death reminds us that this illness can be cruel and heartbreaking. She became a colleague and friend to us at APP and will be greatly missed.

Ian Jones on behalf of APP