Eve Canavan BEM announced as new APP ambassador
We are delighted to announce that prominent maternal mental health advocate, campaigner and postpartum psychosis survivor, Eve Canavan BEM, is now an official ambassador for Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP).
Eve has been a passionate advocate for women and families affected by perinatal mental illness for more than a decade, drawing on her own experience of postpartum psychosis following the birth of her son, Joe. After becoming severely unwell shortly after giving birth, Eve spent six weeks trying to access appropriate help before being admitted to a psychiatric Mother and Baby Unit, where she began her recovery. Her experience has shaped her lifelong commitment to improving awareness, understanding and support for maternal mental health.
In 2014, Eve co-founded the Perinatal Mental Health Partnership, bringing together national charities and people with lived experience of perinatal mental illness. She is also a co-founder and joint National Coordinator of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, which she helped establish in 2017 as a platform to raise awareness of maternal mental health, improve access to information and support, and encourage conversations about perinatal mental illness. The awareness week has since grown into a global resource for women and families.
Eve was previously a peer supporter and has supported APP as a media volunteer since 2013. She worked with APP and Mind to advise on BBC 1’s EastEnders storyline featuring Stacey Slater. Alongside APP experts and fellow survivor Kathryn Grant, Eve helped advise the programme's researchers, writers and actors on the realities of postpartum psychosis. Eve and Kathryn were recognised with the Speaking Out Award at the 2016 Mind Media Awards.
Eve was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to mental health. In 2025, she was recognised as a Disruptor for Good at the 2025 Northern Power Women Awards.
Eve joins poet, author and illustrator, Laura Dockrill; The Maccabees member and record producer, Hugo White; author and publisher, Catherine Cho; and prominent UK women’s mental health advocate, researcher and campaigner, Dr Clare Dolman, as APP ambassadors, working to increase national and international awareness of postpartum psychosis.
Postpartum psychosis (PP) is a treatable medical emergency affecting 1,200 women in the UK and more than 140,000 women in the world each year. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, mania, depression, restlessness, anxiety, confusion, and unusual behaviour, beginning rapidly after childbirth. While half of cases occur ‘out of the blue’ to women with no history of mental illness, women with a previous bipolar diagnosis have a particularly high risk of developing the illness. With urgent specialist care, ideally in a Mother and Baby Unit, almost all mums recover fully.
Through her advocacy, Eve has consistently highlighted the importance of listening to women's voices, recognising the signs of severe mental illness and ensuring families can access timely, compassionate and appropriate care.
Eve Canavan BEM said: “I am deeply honoured to officially join Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) as an Ambassador. Having navigated the reality of postpartum psychosis myself after the birth of my son, Joe, APP was a vital beacon of hope and understanding during my recovery, as it is for so many women and families.
Over the last 16 years, my goal has always been to turn my own lived experience into meaningful change, whether through peer support, media representation or awareness raising, so that no parent has to face this severe illness alone or in silence. Joining APP, who share this unwavering dedication is a true privilege.
I look forward to combining our voices to break down stigma, drive vital awareness, and ensure that every family affected by postpartum psychosis receives the specialist care and compassion they deserve.”
Jess Heron, CEO, Action on Postpartum Psychosis, said: “We are so delighted to welcome Eve as an APP Ambassador. Eve has been a tireless advocate for women and families affected by postpartum psychosis. Her thoughtful campaigning work and passionate commitment to improving understanding have changed the conversation around severe postnatal mental illness. We are thrilled that she will be continuing this work with us in her new role as an ambassador.”
APP is a collaboration between families with lived experience, world-leading academic researchers and specialist health professionals. APP runs an award-winning UK-wide peer support network, including a peer support forum with more than 4,000 users; develops patient information; trains professionals; campaigns for better services; works in partnership with the NHS to provide direct support to women in Mother and Baby Units; conducts awareness raising media work, and facilitates research into the illness.