Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK without a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU), a specialist inpatient mental health treatment centre where mothers can be admitted with their babies for care and treatment. Instead, mothers who develop postpartum psychosis (PP) are admitted to general acute psychiatric wards for non-specialist treatment, separating them from babies.
APP has been campaigning for more Mother and Baby Units in the UK for more than 10 years. Our research shows that women who receive care for postpartum psychosis in MBUs feel more satisfied with the care they receive, feel safer, feel more confident in the knowledge of the staff, recover more quickly and feel more confident with their baby when they go home.
This update is from APP’s Northern Ireland campaigner, Liz Morrison…
Thank you so much to everyone who’s helped raise awareness of the urgent need for an MBU in Northern Ireland (NI). We made a big stride forward when the issue was debated in the Northern Ireland Assembly in October.
The debate saw strong cross-party support and powerful testimony from both MLAs and the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, who said:
A Mother and Baby Unit is not overdue or long overdue: it is long, long overdue.
Talking about his own family’s experience of severe postnatal mental illness, the Minister said he wants to go ahead with an MBU in Belfast but didn’t go as far as guaranteeing funding.
MLAs from all parties urged the Minister to find the funds for an MBU. Most urged that in the meantime a temporary ward is opened, and that women be given the option to travel to England, Scotland or Wales for treatment with their babies if that’s what they want. APP had briefed the MLAs to ask for this. We’re really pleased that they set out our asks clearly and even praised APP for our ‘tireless campaigning.’
That campaigning is thanks in huge part to the members of APP’s Northern Ireland peer support group who have spoken out in the media and met with politicians. The debate in the Assembly came about as a direct result of our peer support volunteer, Teresa, joining other APP reps to meet with Sinn Féin MLAs. Órlaithí Flynn MLA was moved by her story and worked to bring the debate forward. We can’t say a big enough thank you to everyone who has shared their story with journalists, health officials and politicians.
We’re not quite there yet - we’re still waiting for the business case from the Belfast Trust (which has been chosen as the site of a new MBU). APP has been arguing strongly that we can’t wait another five years for an MBU - we want a safe temporary MBU, as well as the option for women to travel with their baby to Scotland, England or Wales for treatment if that’s what they want. We know that’s not appropriate for most families, but some have told us they would like that option. Orlaithi and other MLAs called on the Minister to make this happen.
During the debate, the Health Minister said that an interim ward isn’t possible, but afterwards APP wrote to him to argue that it is needed, and he has since asked the Department of Health to look at this again.
You can read the text of the full debate here (page 15 onwards) and watch it here (it starts at 11.30).
Meanwhile, APP has been working with an international journalist who visited Belfast in September to talk to women who have been admitted to general psychiatric wards while experiencing PP about their experiences as part of a Europe-wide investigation into the need for MBUs. Reports have been placed in a number of media outlets, including the Northern Ireland publication The Detail. Thanks to Stephanie and other mums who shared their experiences.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by postpartum psychosis, now or many years ago, and would like support or to join our Lived Experience community, including our NI group, email ellie@app-network.org for more information.
Colleagues from Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) have viewed the powerful and compelling new film Die My Love and wanted to share a brief update for our community.
The film is directed by Lynne Ramsay (known for We Need to Talk About Kevin and You Were Never Really Here). It stars Jennifer Lawrence (as Grace) and Robert Pattinson (as Jackson), with LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek, and Nick Nolte in supporting roles.
About the film content
Die My Love is very much a dark, arthouse psychological drama, so isn’t one to be taken literally. It provokes feelings of empathy, leaves you with questions, and you’re free to interpret things yourself.
While the film isn’t explicitly / exclusively a postpartum psychosis (PP) narrative, PP is explored within a mix of broader perinatal mental health themes, including depression, grief, trauma, isolation and alcohol use.
Because of its highly emotional and intense content, APP would urge caution for anyone with lived experience of PP or perinatal mental illness, including partners, as some scenes may be very distressing.
APP’s Jenny and Hannah share their reviews
Jenny and Hannah went to see the film together - a nice way to check in with each other and not watch it in isolation. If you are planning to watch it, take care of yourselves, and know that APP’s peer supporters are here for you. You might also want to go to the cinema or watch at home with a trusted friend or family member.
Jenny, one of APP’s National Peer Support Coordinators, said, “I thought the film was excellent. It leaves you with a lot to interpret and process for yourself in terms of Grace’s experiences, acted out brilliantly by Jennifer Lawrence, while an often bewildered Jackson watches on. It was reassuring that there is never any question of Grace’s love and attachment with her son, it is everyone and everything else that she seems to no longer relate to and detaches from. I would suggest that anyone with lived experience of perinatal mental health issues who is thinking about seeing the film watch some of the trailers and clips first, to see if you feel the tone of it is for you, and be aware that there are some distressing scenes and high emotion throughout. It’s a surreal and chaotic ride that will leave you with plenty of questions.”
Hannah, National Coordinator (NHS Contracts), said, “I thought this film was brilliant. It was intense, confusing, exhilarating, and I found myself mesmerised from start to finish. Die My Love resonated with many parts of my own experience of PP. Visually, it was beautiful yet harsh, and the soundtrack also added to the emotions, especially the music, which included a gorgeous acoustic version of a song my eldest used to dance along to when he was a toddler (can you tell I’m a musician in a former life?!).
Jennifer Lawrence’s performance was outstanding, and whilst Grace’s frustrations with Jackson and his older family members were understandable at times, I did also find myself feeling desperately sad for him at times too. Whilst their baby is sometimes outside of the narrative of their relationship and the chaos of whatever is going on, Grace is a loving mother - I wanted to cheer when she was questioned about her bond and attachment with her son and said “there’s nothing wrong, he’s perfect and I don’t have any problems with that”, voicing what many around her were feeling and she was managing (in the main) to hold onto as a tenuous link to reality, or at least her version of it. A real feast for the senses, soul and deserving of a wide audience. Do take care if you have lived experience or aren’t feeling great, but I loved it.”
Contact APP for peer support
If you have been affected by this film, need any support, or want to meet others affected by postpartum psychosis, please get in touch with our peer support team: app@app-network.org or find out more about APP peer support here.
Working with journalists, filmmakers and content creators
We work closely with journalists, filmmakers and content creators to promote accurate and sensitive portrayals of PP. If you're making content or want to talk about PP, please do get in touch with us: media@app-network.org or find out more here.
An international panel of women's mental health experts has, this month, issued a call for postpartum psychosis (PP) to be formally recognised in diagnosis classification manuals.
Professor Veerle Bergink of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Erasmus University in Rotterdam, led a panel of prominent PP academics, including APP's Professor Ian Jones and Trustee Dr Clare Dolman, in developing a consensus statement. Professor Bergink said: “We argue that with its specific onset, phenotype, phenomenology, risk profile, and prognosis, postpartum psychosis has distinct prevention and treatment recommendations.”
The team have spent several years pulling together clinical and biological evidence and consulting patient groups, to demonstrate that postpartum psychosis deserves official recognition and a new classification should be created within the bipolar disorder chapters.
Although the term is used widely by clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience, official diagnostic manuals currently force doctors to classify postpartum psychosis under a range of different names in different subsections of the classification manual, leading to confusion for patients, clinicians and researchers alike.
Dr Clare Dolman, King’s College and University of Edinburgh, Trustee of Action on Postpartum Psychosis, said: “The case for postpartum psychosis being recognised as a distinct condition in the diagnostic manuals is clear and is supported by the wealth of evidence provided by the Expert Panel. Both as a researcher in this area for 15 years - and a woman who has suffered a postpartum psychosis - I do not understand the reluctance to make this straightforward but much-needed change.”
Dr Jess Heron, CEO, Action on Postpartum Psychosis, said: “This is a momentous occasion. If these recommendations are accepted by the team who oversee the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in the US, it could lead to significant improvements in patient care and research quality globally.”
The issue of diagnosis is a confusing topic for many people affected by PP and their families (partly caused by its absence from diagnostic manuals). For help and support, please reach out to APP’s peer supporters, or join a discussion on the APP forum.
Hollyoaks will explore Postpartum Psychosis (PP) when Cleo McQueen, played by Nadine Mulkerrin, struggles with her mental health following a traumatic birth with her first child, Joseph.
APP colleagues and storytellers have advised on the Hollyoaks storyline which will hit the screens this week.
Cleo went into early labour at 28 weeks pregnant and, assisted by Dodger (Danny Mac), was rushed to hospital. After giving birth, Cleo haemorrhaged and required emergency medical attention.
Baby Joseph needs to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit due to being premature. Cleo, who fell ill after childbirth, is later given the green light by doctors o go home. Red flags start to appear when, at first, she doesn't believe her baby is hers.
This quickly progresses when Cleo starts losing track of time and feels guilty for struggling to produce milk. Cleo’s girlfriend Sienna Blake (Anna Passey) moves into the McQueens house to help support the new mum.
The storyline follows Cleo and her support system - Sienna, Dodger, and her McQueen family – as they convince her to seek help when they start noticing her concerning behaviour.
Cleo will be treated in a general psychiatric ward – she’s not able to go to a Mother and Baby Unit due to Joseph being in the NICU unit.
For this issue-based storyline, Hollyoaks worked with APP colleagues and storytellers, consulting with the cast members involved and advising on the storytelling process.
Nadine Mulkerrin, who plays Cleo McQueen, has said “It’s been a new challenge taking on the role of motherhood and the difficulties that being a new mum can bring, especially the strain it can have on your mental health. We had a consultation with APP [Action on Postpartum Psychosis] whilst filming this storyline, and it was helpful to hear other people’s experiences - my heart breaks for poor Cleo.”
Dr Jess Heron, CEO, Action on Postpartum Psychosis said “Responsible portrayals of PP on popular TV shows such as Hollyoaks are invaluable. With greater public awareness, partners, friends, family members and frontline health professionals will be more able to quickly spot the signs and seek specialist emergency help as soon as possible. We’re grateful to Hollyoaks for playing a part in awareness raising and for their diligent approach to producing a sensitive and accurate storyline.”
Hollyoaks is now available to stream from 7am Monday to Wednesday on Channel 4 or watch live on E4 at 7pm.
This week we're on a mission to support even more women and families affected by postpartum psychosis, and we'd love you to help us. Between midday on 8th October and midday on 15th October, we're aiming to raise £5,000.
Every donation we receive will be worth twice as much – if you donate £5, APP will receive £10, if you donate £25, we'll receive £50, and so on.
Double the donation means double the impact.
Our target of £5,000 could help us significantly increase our offer of help and support for families affected by postpartum psychosis (PP) - a treatable medical emergency that affects around 1200 women in the UK each year.
Being diagnosed with a severe mental illness like PP is frightening and shocking for the woman and those around her. With the right treatment, nearly all women make a full recovery, but the journey can be long, have ups and downs and can feel very isolating. APP peer supporters are there for everyone affected by PP, whether the experience was recent or many years ago. By donating today, you can help us be there for everyone who needs us, for as long as they need us.
Will you donate today and get your donation doubled?
'I don’t know where I would be without APP. I was struggling so much and even with perinatal mental health team involvement I felt so isolated and misunderstood. I was losing hope of any recovery and fighting suicidal thoughts even though I had a much wanted child at last. The understanding and encouragement I’ve received has been everything in my ongoing slow recovery. Thank you.'
Quote from a mum who responded to our Peer Support Survey this year.
Help us be there for even more women and families.
Suicide is the leading cause of maternal death in the UK and rates are increasing nationally. APP’s free webinar is open to frontline health professionals working with families in the perinatal period and will outline the actions needed to support and protect women who develop postpartum psychosis.
The webinar, on 8th October, will be delivered in collaboration with The National Centre for Mental Health at Cardiff University (NCMH) and General Practitioners Championing Perinatal Mental Health Care (GPCPC), and will include talks from APP’s clinical, academic and lived experience experts.
This will be the third in our annual webinar series. 6,438 health professionals have signed up in previous years. Of attendees, 93% rated the training as ‘excellent’; 7% rated it ‘good’ and 100% agreed they would change their practice as a result.
You can book your free place here. There’s no limit to the number of places available - please share the details with colleagues and encourage them to join us for this important event.
A poster to promote the webinar can be downloaded here. Health professionals, please put one up in your place of work!
Health professional training in postpartum psychosis
Book now for our online training “Best practice care in postpartum psychosis” on Wednesday 12th November 2025.
The one-day online course is for professionals who work with pregnant and postnatal women and families. It draws upon cutting-edge research and the experiences of women and families. It will increase confidence in identifying those at risk, planning care during pregnancy, identifying early symptoms, understanding care pathways, and providing high quality, empathetic support to women and families from preconception to full recovery.
1 day course cost: £195. Find out more and book here.
If you would like training tailored for your team, have questions, or to join our training mailing list, please email: training@app-network.org
Support APP’s Big Give campaign
Mark your calendars - we have another Big Give campaign coming up between 8th and15th October. If you can plan a fundraising event in the run up to, or during that week, all donations made through the Big Give site that week will be doubled, at no additional cost to the donor!
Please do consider making a donation during that week if you can, or look out for and share our posts on social media so as many people as possible see them.
Why not make the most of our Big Give week by organising a Big Bake event? (like Nottingham MBU team, above) It's the perfect time for an autumnal afternoon tea, a cake decorating competition, or just a morning coffee break with colleagues - it all helps to raise awareness and funds. Hold it before the 15th October and donate the proceeds via the Big Give and it will be matched - meaning if you raise £50, we'll get £100!
Contact Fliss for more info or to request our free Big Bake info pack, complete with all our favourite recipes!
Welcome to our newest peer supporters!
Welcome to our newest APP peer support volunteers!
We had a special training day in London earlier this month, facilitated by our expert trainer Clare Foster. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who was there, and for helping to make a difference
Find out more about peer support on our website here.
New Chester Mother and Baby Unit: update
Sally, APP’s National Training Coordinator, and Jocelyn, Peer Support Facilitator, recently visited Seren Lodge in Chester as part of the Helix Experts by Experience group.
Seren Lodge will be a specialist eight-bedded mental health Mother and Baby Unit (MBU), designed to support perinatal mothers, their babies, and families from across Cheshire, Merseyside, and North Wales. The unit is expected to open later this year.
This new service is being developed through a partnership between Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, NHS England, and NHS Wales.
Reflecting on the visit, Jocelyn said:
“I am really proud and emotional to be part of this. I didn’t have access to an MBU when I needed it, so it’s amazing to see a local service now available in Cheshire and North Wales. At Helix, we’ve been able to provide input from our lived experiences to help ensure the unit feels homely and welcoming - creating the best possible environment for mothers to recover from perinatal mental illness.”
Can you help our new Black mums peer support group?
Are you a Black mum who has experienced mania/bipolar or psychosis after giving birth?
We’re looking for more volunteers from the Black community to help us with our new peer support group for Black mums. We also need more help with our outreach activities, educating health professionals and community groups about postpartum psychosis.
Join us for peer support training in December (online, on Zoom).
We’re delighted to say that APP has been nominated for the Outstanding Partner Organisation Award in Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust’s Stars Awards 2025.
Our amazing team of Nicola Gardner, Alison Barrott and Rachel McVeigh have been working in partnership with the NHS providing peer support to inpatients at Andersen Ward Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) in Wythenshawe for the past two years.
The GMMH Stars Awards are designed to celebrate excellent work taking place across the Trust. Staff, service users and their carers and families were invited to nominate teams to be shortlisted. There will be a celebration event and awards ceremony in Salford in October.
Huge congratulations to Nicola, Ali and Rachel - we’re all very proud of you!
You can find out more about how APP works in partnership with the NHS here.
Fill in our annual peer support survey
If you have accessed APP’s peer support services this year, please tell us what you think by completing our survey by the end of September.
The survey will take about 15 minutes to fill in. It is open to anyone who has used APP's peer support service (whether that is the online forum, café groups, one to one support via email, video/phone call or face-to-face, creative or wellbeing groups, or had contact with an APP peer support volunteer or staff member). We would also like to hear from any of our volunteers who have delivered peer support.
Your responses will help us improve APP’s peer support and report to our funders on the importance of our work.
The survey can be completed anonymously and is confidential. Any comments or quotes you add will remain anonymous. If you have completed a survey for us in the past, we would still like to hear your experiences of receiving or delivering support this year.
The survey will close at the end of September. Please grab a cup of tea and let us know what you think by following this link.
This is Also Motherhood – an exhibition of portraits and stories of mental health, strength and survival
This is Also Motherhood is a project by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, showcasing the portraits and stories of 10 mothers from across the UK.
The exhibition will be open to the public in central London on 14th, 17th and 18th November 2025. Except for the afternoon of 18th November, the exhibition is open to all.
Author Catherine Cho, APP Ambassador and Trustee, says she is honoured to be part of the project.
It’s a privilege to share my story of postpartum psychosis, and what projects like these so powerfully reveal - is that these are shared experiences and there is support to be found.
Read more about Catherine’s story on Instagram here.
APP’s Development Manager, Rich Baish, joined the What If We’d Known podcast to talk about his family’s experience of postpartum psychosis and loss, and the importance of recognising the warning signs. You can listen to the episode here.
Volunteer Chris Wasley’s epic tour of football grounds closest to every MBU in the UK continues. He recently made it on to the big screen at Colchester! (pictured above).
Chris also recently took part in The Blooming Midwife podcast and talked movingly about his support for MBUs. You can listen to the episode here.
Fabulous fundraisers
Thank you to all our fantastic fundraisers who’ve been taking on all sorts of challenges across the UK to help raise funds and awareness for APP.
Just in the last couple of months, we’ve had an incredible team representing APP in the Great North Run - Gemma, James, Debbie, Jo and Fiona.
Gina and her son Rayan took part in the Edinburgh Kiltwalk on 14th September.
Our very own peer supporter Eli organised a wonderful coffee morning for friends and family at the end of September.
We have many more fundraisers in action next month too - Emily in the Cardiff Half, Lauren-Nicole, Aaron, Gareth and Dominic in the Amsterdam Marathon, as well as Jessie and Pendra in the Royal Parks Half in London.
If you’re considering a challenge this autumn or in 2026, now is a great time to sign up - we have recently updated our challenge page with loads of new events and exciting activities, including fancy dress Santa festive fun runs, plus iconic events like the Brighton Marathon, Edinburgh Marathon and the Great North Run, as well as so many more.
Diary dates
APP North East face to face café group meet up in Newcastle, Monday 29th September
APP Lancashire and South Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Blackburn, Friday 3rd October
APP Yorkshire face to face café group meet up in Leeds, Saturday 4th October
APP Wales face to face café group meet up in Wrexham, Saturday 4th October
APP neurodivergent virtual café group meet up, Monday 6th October
APP Muslims women’s virtual café group meet up, Tuesday 7th October
APP webinar: essential knowledge for preventing maternal suicide, Wednesday 8th October. Book here.
APP Lancashire and South Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Blackpool, Friday 10th October
APP Lancashire and South Cumbria virtual café group meet up, Monday 13th October
APP dads and co-parents virtual café group meet up, Wednesday 15th October
APP Lancashire and South Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Lancaster, Wednesday 15th October
APP UK-wide virtual café group meet up, Thursday 16th October
APP Lancashire and South Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Preston, Friday 17th October
APP Scotland face to face café group meet up in Edinburgh, Saturday 18th October
APP London virtual café group meet up, Tuesday 21st October
APP London face to face café group meet up, Saturday 25th October
APP Manchester face to face café group meet up, Friday 31st October
Contact information for all APP café groups is available here.
Conferences and events
Recognising and Responding to Maternal Deterioration, Wednesday 15th October
Online conference looking at how MEWS, NEWTT2 and the Perinatal Optimisation Care Pathway have been adopted in organisations across the country and the impact on recognising and responding to deterioration in maternity care. A 20% discount is available for members of the APP network with code hcuk20app . More details and booking here.
Communication Skills, Boundaries, Confidentiality - for Perinatal Mental Health Peer Support, Thursday 23rd October
Online lunchtime seminar for peer support workers and other practitioners supporting parents with their mental health during pregnancy, birth and beyond run by Lifeboat Perinatal Mental Health. More details and booking information here.
If you would like to advertise your event here, please get in touch: app@app-network.org.
It was 1997 when I got married to a man I didn’t know. I was a very naïve 23 year-old, and wasn’t ready for marriage. So, there was the shock of that and then the shock of marrying someone from a different culture who spoke a different language. Worse still, as the marriage progressed, he became abusive and controlling.
I fell pregnant quickly. My pregnancy was difficult – I didn’t put on much weight, I was sick all the way through and my husband’s abuse went up a gear. I turned to my mum and dad for support, and they were just amazing. With them by my side I was able to leave and I finally felt safe.
The final part of my pregnancy was more stable, although I did have a long and exhausting labour. My mum stayed with me throughout and, eventually, my beautiful daughter was born. I went home to Mum’s but, two days later, my husband turned up, banging on the door. I was holding my baby and he threatened me while she was in my arms. It was frightening and I think this was the trigger for my postpartum psychosis (PP).
I couldn’t sleep, I was too afraid to eat and I became extremely paranoid. After about five days of no food or sleep the hallucinations started. My younger brother tried to encourage me to eat, but the paranoia I was experiencing was too strong.
By this point I was in the midst of a psychotic episode and I didn’t trust any healthcare professionals, convinced that they were going to hurt my baby.
My family didn’t know what to do so my mum went to the doctors and asked for help. A couple of doctors came out to the house but they didn’t know what was wrong with me either. This was a time when there wasn’t much awareness of PP.
A family friend at the time was a nurse who suggested it might have something to do with giving birth so my dad took me to the mental health unit where I was voluntarily admitted. There was no Mother and Baby Unit at the time so I had to leave my baby at home in the care of my amazing sister who took time off work to look after her for me.
I was in the mental health unit for a total of three weeks. I remember when I first got there, still in the psychosis, I was confused as to where I was, and my superhero - my dad - would visit me every day, even though he wasn’t allowed in to see me, but he would just sit in the grounds to be close to me.
After I was discharged, my dad took all the family on holiday. He said we’d all been through so much we needed to get away. Tragically, whilst away, he suddenly died after being in a car accident. It was horrific. I had fully recovered by now, but feared I might relapse. I didn’t though. In fact, I haven’t experienced an episode of psychosis since.
I gained so much strength from my dad and in life he really helped me to recover.
Since then, I had another baby, a son, and after he was born I became a single mum again and have been ever since. When I was pregnant the second time I had a lot of healthcare support in the run up to the birth and I didn’t get unwell again. In fact, I’ve never had to have any mental health support since first having PP.
Driven by my own experience, I went back to college and retrained as a psychotherapist so I can help others who have experienced mental illness. I’ve also started volunteering for APP’s Muslim Women’s Support Group. There was so little awareness when I experienced PP that it took me 25 years to find peer support through APP – which I discovered after a Facebook ad popped up on my feed.
The Muslim Mum’s Cafe Group is so important on many levels, but what is particularly important for me is that, as human beings, and this goes back to the beginning of time, we’ve always lived in tribes.
And for a Muslim woman, because our experiences can be unique to our culture, finding other women who look like us, who sound like us and who have been through some of the things we have is invaluable.
There’s a huge cultural aspect to PP in my community and stigma is very much alive and well, so being visible and sharing my story is so important because many Muslim women still don’t seek help.
I know that having PP is a really scary time, but I want others to know that there is help out there, you’re not alone and the APP community is here for you. And, like me, you can recover.
Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP), the UK charity for families affected by postpartum psychosis, is hosting a free webinar for midwives and other frontline health professionals, aimed at helping to reduce the maternal suicide rate.
The Alex Baish Memorial Webinar is taking place on Wednesday 8th October at 12pm. APP experts, women and families with lived experience and clinicians will highlight the early signs and symptoms of postpartum psychosis (PP) and discuss how health professionals can work with perinatal mental health teams to help prevent suicide, the leading cause of maternal death in the UK.
Postpartum psychosis affects 1,200 new mothers in the UK each year and more than140,000 women across the world (that’s around 1-2 in every 1,000 births). Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, mania, depression and unusual behaviour and onset within days of childbirth, often to women with no previous mental health history. Symptoms can be frightening and escalate rapidly, and postpartum psychosis must be managed as a medical emergency for the safety of both mother and baby.
The webinar is now in its third year and is made possible thanks to fundraising by Rich Baish, along with his family and friends, in memory of his wife Alex who took her own life whilst unwell with PP. Since losing Alex, Rich has been working to ensure healthcare professionals, antenatal educators and expectant parents are made aware of the signs, symptoms and risks of PP, in the hope that no other families will have to go through what he has. Rich says:
There is the obvious tragedy of losing my wife, which is a scar that my family and I will bear forever. But there’s also another tragedy in the sense that because PP is a treatable illness, I now know that if signs were spotted and acted on quickly, she would still be with us today.
I want Alex to be remembered for all the right reasons; not just as the incredible teacher, daughter, wife and mum that she was, but as the reason why mothers in the future are treated for and saved from postpartum psychosis.
Dr Jess Heron, Chief Executive of APP, says:
With the right care, women recover from postpartum psychosis. With these free webinars, we hope to help prevent deaths due to postpartum psychosis and reduce some of the needless trauma families face as they develop the illness and seek care. If we can educate all professionals working on the frontline with new parents to know the risks, the signs and symptoms, how to get the right help, and to understand a bit about supporting families during this dreadful crisis, we know we can save lives.
This year’s webinar will be delivered in collaboration with The National Centre for Mental Health at Cardiff University (NCMH) and General Practitioners Championing Perinatal Mental Health Care (GPCPC). More than 6,400 health professionals have signed up in previous years. Of attendees, 93% rated the training as ‘excellent’; 7% rated it ‘good’ and 100% agreed they would change their practice as a result:
Really well put together- the content, the speakers, the information sharing and all the research and evidence presented. This is exactly the type of training needed. The issue is too urgent to ignore and too desperate to not be passionate about.
This webinar was so powerful that I think this should be a mandatory training video for all working in perinatal.
Free places for the 8th October webinar can be booked here. You can show support by promoting the event with colleagues and networks. A webinar poster can be downloaded here.
We're very proud to have five runners representing APP in the iconic Great North Run this year. They've been training hard throughout the hot summer months, ready to take on the world's biggest half marathon on Sunday 7th September.
Meet our 2025 Great North Run Team:
Gemma and James
Siblings Gemma and James are no strangers to the Great North Run, having taken part in 2016. Now they're back, with the aim of beating their younger selves (and maybe even each other!)
Hoping to have a great time on the day, they're really looking forward to running together through their local area for a cause that means a lot to them.
Gemma says: 'I'm so proud to be running for APP and we're really excited about the day! It's nice to be running with my brother, we don't get to spend as much time together as I'd like so this is a good excuse! Everyone has been really generous with their donations - thank you!'
Debbie and Jo are experienced runners who have taken part in numerous events before, but this will be their first experience of the Great North Run.
Debbie encouraged her friend Jo to run with her for this event - knowing just how important the work is that APP does.
Debbie is Ward Manager at the Margaret Oates Mother and Baby Unit in Nottingham.
Debbie says: 'We would appreciate your support if you can to help raise funds for this amazing charity. As many of you know I work with women suffering a severe mental illness following childbirth and it is vital that our families are supported. Suicide remains the leading cause of maternal deaths in the first year post partum, but these illnesses are treatable and women recover. Supporting APP will help raise awareness of this illness.'
Thank you Debbie for all you do to support families, and to both you and Jo for taking on this challenge for APP.
Fiona is taking on her first ever Great North Run, inspired to take part and raise funds for APP by her good friend Laura (pictured together with Fiona on the left of the photo here).
Fiona says: 'I am running for my friend Laura who has had postpartum psychosis after both her children were born'.
As always, the Great North Run will be covered live on BBC TV so keep an eye out for our runners in their purple APP tops. And if you can be there in the North East in person, do give TeamAPP an extra big cheer as they run past!
Good luck to all our runners and thank you for taking on this amazing challenge for APP.
The Great North Run is a fantastic event to be part of, so if you're feeling inspired by our 2025 team, we will have places again next year - contact our fundraiser Fliss if you're interested in running for APP in 2026.
In the years since I gave birth I felt completely overwhelmed by shame and guilt – until I met someone else who had experienced postpartum psychosis (PP). Getting that peer support from APP helped me come to terms with what I had been through - and marked the first time I felt any degree of normality since giving birth.
I had been in hospital for almost a year after becoming unwell with PP. There were times when I honestly didn’t think I would get better. In fact, I think if I could have spoken to someone else who had been through it when I was in hospital I might have found hope and recovery sooner. But today, me and my son George have the absolute best bond, I’m back at work and I’m even managing George’s junior rugby team. There was a time when I never could have imagined this life.
My pregnancy was generally fine – up until the point that I was induced, got sepsis and had to have an emergency C-section. I was in hospital for about five days and I didn’t get much sleep. As a single mum, I lived with my mum at the time and, when I first brought George home, she noticed something was really wrong with how I was behaving. It was as though I went completely round the twist – believing that the girl from The Exorcist was living in my wardrobe and thinking that I was going to die or George was going to die. I also stopped my mum from touching George because I believed she was poisonous and that the poison would seep out of her blood and get into him. I wasn’t sleeping and I was excessively cleaning and panic buying things. I was also talking manically and was very hyperactive.
It was a strange situation because I didn’t think there was anything wrong with me, it was everyone around me, all my family members, who noticed that there was something very wrong.
I agreed to go back to the maternity unit for a check up and was assessed in hospital by psychiatrists. I was incredibly manic at the time and becoming really out of control. They gave me a lot of sedatives and put a section on me, which they then lifted. That was when I was admitted to a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU).
A couple of hours later the sedatives wore off and I completely flipped out. I was restrained and injected and, from that point on, I barely remember a thing. It was like I woke up in hospital and it was next year.
During that period I was moved between the MBU, a psychiatric intensive care unit and two other psychiatric hospitals. I wasn’t responding to medication, so it took a few months to find the right one and come round from the psychosis. But for some time I was basically like a zombie in a chair - dribbling, non-verbal, unkempt and putting on a lot of weight. During this time my mum looked after George but she also looked after me – advocating on my behalf at the hospital and asking for more support.
Being in hospital was traumatic. At one point I was on a mixed ward and I was punched in the face and sexually assaulted by a couple of the male patients there. In December of last year I started having really distressing nightmares about my experience there.
Luckily, the all-women hospital I was moved to was where things started to improve. The clozapine was working and the environment was much better – the staff were lovely and being among all women patients and having more homely areas and activities to take part in really helped. I started to get snapshots of memory back. They let me have more visitors as well, and at one point I was able to go home for a night at a time. They also used to help me shower and help me do my hair and make-up, bringing a degree of normality back into my life.
Saying that, my recovery has been quite slow. I was on clozapine for two and a half years after being discharged and my follow-up care wasn’t great – possibly because it was during the pandemic. I was never offered any therapy and I had put on ten stone while in hospital, so I was physically unfit as well.
I eventually came off the clozapine in 2022 and was put on antidepressants but I wasn’t sleeping and kept waking up with night terrors. Eventually, I found a private therapist who was fantastic and helped me talk through my trauma and work on my self esteem.
She helped me come to terms with what had happened and helped me to understand that it was an illness – it was nothing that I had done wrong.
It was around that time I found APP, too. I got in touch with Ellie from the peer support team and took part in my first zoom café group. I was then matched with Krystal as my one-to-one peer supporter who was also really great. It was the first time I had met anyone else who had experienced PP and who had been through a similar trauma. Talking to others who have been there really gives you hope and helps you feel less ashamed and alone.
I have since been diagnosed with bipolar but it hasn’t stopped me living my life. Speaking with others who can relate was a big turning point. And my mum has been a wonderful support and the therapy really helped me too. I think it’s important to reach out for that help because locking it away is the worst thing you can do. You need to process it and you need to find hope to help you recover more quickly.
I feel so lucky that me and George have such a great bond now – he’s such a mummy’s boy.
I was worried it might never happen because we were separated for such a long time and it took a little while but we got there.
I just want others to know that you can be in the absolute worst place ever, but it does get better. It’s hard work and it takes time but you can do it. You just need to learn to reach out and ask for help. If you feel like your meds aren’t right - say so. If you feel any warning signs creeping back in - go and get help. Plodding along and saying that everything’s OK when it isn’t is the worst thing to do. I never had that hope which is why I struggled so much and for so long. I genuinely believe that if I spoke to someone like me when I was at my worst it would have made a huge difference. Everyone needs to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
About the film content
Being diagnosed with a severe mental illness like PP is frightening and shocking for the woman and those around her. With the right treatment, nearly all women make a full recovery, but the journey can be long, have ups and downs and can feel very isolating. APP peer supporters are there for everyone affected by PP, whether the experience was recent or many years ago. By donating today, you can help us be there for everyone who needs us, for as long as they need us.
Siblings Gemma and James are no strangers to the Great North Run, having taken part in 2016. Now they're back, with the aim of beating their younger selves (and maybe even each other!)
Debbie and Jo are experienced runners who have taken part in numerous events before, but this will be their first experience of the Great North Run.
Fiona is taking on her first ever Great North Run, inspired to take part and raise funds for APP by her good friend Laura (pictured together with Fiona on the left of the photo here).
