31 October 2021

APP November 2021 Newsletter

Giving Tuesday

Today is Giving Tuesday, an annual event which asks people to do something to support a good cause close to their heart.

As Christmas approaches, APP will be sharing stories from our network, helping to raise awareness of postpartum psychosis (PP) and of how families coped with severe mental illness at this time of year. We want to help give hope to anyone going through a difficult time.

Please follow us on our social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and share our storytellers’ experiences as well as your own messages of hope. You’ll also be able to read stories on our website.

If you can, please also support APP as you do your Christmas shopping. You can help to raise hundreds of pounds in donations for us as you shop online with Amazon Smile and Give As You Live. Both are free to set up and use and the money raised will support our work.

Thank you.

APP 2021 UK survey

If you haven’t done so already, there’s still time to share your experience of care for PP through APP’s 2021 survey. We want to find out about the changes that have happened since our first survey of care for PP ten years ago.

We’re aiming to find out more about inequalities in access to Mother and Baby Units across the UK and the impact of this on recovery outcomes for women and families. The survey asks how many women were treated in MBUs and how far you had to travel. It also looks at the benefits of MBU care versus other forms of care.

The survey takes around 30 minutes to fill in and will be so important in helping with our campaigning over the next 10 years. Follow this link to complete it.

If you would like help with any issues raised by this questionnaire, please get in touch with us via email or visit our community forum. Our Lived Experience Coordinators can talk to you about the support and information available from APP.

Partner peer support cycle challenge

We like to say a huge thank you and well done to APP’s Partner Peer Support Coordinator, Simon, who has just finished his mammoth 852-mile virtual cycling challenge to help raise awareness of the impact of postpartum psychosis (PP) on the partners of women who develop the illness.

Simon’s bike ride took him 41 days as he followed a virtual path between the UK’s Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) – specialist psychiatric facilities for mothers experiencing severe postnatal mental illness. En route, he organised virtual meetings with MBU staff (pictured above) to find out more about how they support partners, and chatted to a number of dads and partners who have been through PP. He also found the time and energy for an interview about his challenge on BBC Radio Surrey and an Instagram live with Keiran at Dad Matters.

Simon has raised more than £800 to support APP’s work through his JustGiving page

If you are a partner of someone with PP who'd appreciate talking to Simon or one of our other volunteers please don't hesitate to contact him.

New partners café group

APP’s Partner Peer Support project provides support for the partners of women affected by PP via a Facebook page; one-to-one email, phone and video call support; and online group meet ups.

Coordinator Simon has been joined by our new partner peer support worker, Chris Guttridge (pictured right), who experienced PP from the partner's perspective when his girlfriend was admitted to Winchester Mother and Baby Unit in 2013.

Chris says: "I can distinctly remember reading an APP leaflet about postpartum psychosis to try to understand what was happening. It took several years for me to recover from the effect these events had on me and my family and I've had a keen interest in mental health ever since”.

Simon and Chris have introduced a new partners virtual café group which will be held on the third Wednesday of every month from January 2022. If you would like to talk about your experience of supporting a partner through PP or talk to others who have ‘been there’ and can share what helped them you are very welcome to join the group using this Zoom link.

New Black Country peer support project

We’re delighted to welcome another new member of the APP team: Jo Derry (pictured above right with APP Coordinator Hannah) has joined us a Peer Support Facilitator on our collaborative project with Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Jo is working with the two perinatal community mental health teams within the Trust - Walsall & Wolverhampton and Dudley & Sandwell - providing peer support to women affected by PP and their families.

Jo suffered with perinatal mental illness while pregnant with her daughter in 2006 and went on to experience postpartum psychosis after her birth. There was not a great deal of awareness, information or understanding available at that time regarding PP and Jo says she struggled enormously with the stigma she and others attached to it. She had her son in 2010 and was thankfully well after his birth.

With Covid-19 and lockdowns affecting so many people with mental ill health, Jo decided that she wanted a change in career and to focus on helping people who are struggling with mental ill health. She says: "I want to be able to help people who are suffering as I did. I just wish the help and awareness of today was available in my time of need and feel very privileged to now be in the position where I can help other women and families regarding this illness".

If you would like to know more about the Black Country project, please email: blackcountry@app-network.org.

Mother and Baby Unit for North Wales - please add your support to this petition

Wherever you live, please support this petition to get a Mother and Baby Unit for families in North Wales.

Almost 5,000 signatures have been added so far but 10,000 are needed to make sure it will be considered for a debate in the Senedd. The deadline for adding your signature is 3rd December.

APP, NSPCC Cymru, MMHA and the Royal College of Psychiatrists are supporting the petition and the campaign to open an MBU in North Wales. At the moment women who develop severe postnatal illness are separated from their baby to get treat or have to travel to England to get help. You can sign the petition here.

Ribblemere MBU award

Congratulations to Ribblemere Mother and Baby Unit in Chorley, voted Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust’s clinical team of the year.

The unit was recognised in the Trusts’s Time to Shine staff awards. The team’s work has made a huge difference to the mothers and babies since it opened three years ago.

Karen Hilton, ward manager, said: “Our grateful thanks to all our…wider Ribblemere team family, (including) our fabulous colleagues, Jocelyn, Hannah and Annette from APP.”

Postpartum psychosis drug discovery study

In September, APP's Training and Research Coordinator, Sally, visited the Medicines Discovery Institute (MDI) at Cardiff University to participate in the launch of their new project looking to develop a novel treatment for postpartum psychosis.

This is a two-year, £500,000 early-stage drug discovery project that is funded by the Wellcome Trust and is based upon the hypothesis that postpartum psychosis might be caused by a drop in circulating hormones that occurs after birth. Hormones are known to affect brain function and mood and so the MDI team hopes to identify and develop a synthetic replacement that will therefore prevent the profound mood changes that occur in postpartum psychosis.

The project leader is Professor John Atack (pictured above) who says: “We are thrilled that the Wellcome Trust recognises the medical need of postpartum psychosis and has agreed to fund us in this otherwise neglected area of research. We are especially grateful that Sally and APP can provide a lived experience perspective, which the research team found incredibly moving and motivating on the day. Personally, I had little awareness of the severity of maternal mental health issues until I spoke with my colleague at Cardiff University, Professor Ian Jones, which then inspired me to try to make a difference. Sally’s contribution to our project launch was by far the highlight of the day. So, when the going gets tough, as it undoubtedly will, the lived experience will ensure we remain focussed on trying to deliver a novel treatment for this condition.”

Mum Poet Club zine

The Mum Poet Club’s latest zine has been published this month and is a special edition guest edited by APP ambassador Laura Dockrill.

"And How Is Mum" features beautiful, illustrated poems on the theme of identity in motherhood. Each poem has been personally selected by our ambassador, award-winning writer and author of “What Have I Done”, Laura Dockrill. Laura says:

Guest editing this has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Why? Because not only is the standard exceptional; the writing is extraordinary, the courage is breath-taking – there is humour, there is real-talk and there is love by the bucketload- but truly because it was so hard to read poetry with so many tears in my eyes. I very quickly found myself sobbing and snotting over my marmite on toast, reading lines down the phone to my sister. These poems are a safe space. Reading this is a safe space that could open a conversation, a conversation that could even go on to save someone’s life.

The zine has been made in collaboration with APP and all profits made from this issue will be donated to support our work. It features a beautiful gold foiled cover by Ellamae Statham (pictured above).

You can find out more and order your copy here.

In the media

As part of its ‘On the Edge’ anthology, Channel 4 screened the postpartum psychosis drama ‘Cradled’ (pictured above) earlier this month. Many members of the APP network have praised the programme for being a moving and powerful portrayal of PP. APP has interviewed Cradled’s writer Nessah Muthy. You can read the full article on our website.

Please note both the programme and our interview contain references to suicide and intrusive thoughts about babies. Please take care when reading/viewing.

Kat Grant shared her story and experience of MBU care in an article for Health Affairs.APP volunteer Katherine Shaw shared her PP story in the Daily Mail, The Sun and The Mirror in October.

APP Assistant National Coordinator Naomi Gilbert supported World Menopause Day in October with a piece in The Flock.

Please share these pieces on social media and help us to amplify our messages.

Garden of Hope for Rosewood MBU

BBC's The One Show showed the story of how a 'Garden of Hope', created for this year's Chelsea Flower Show, has been given a permanent home at Rosewood Mother and Baby Unit in Kent (pictured above).

The film, broadcast on the programme on 22nd November, featured MBU staff and a former service user who talked about the difference the garden will make to the service and to the mums and babies who are on their road to recovery.

You can watch the programme here.

Our fantastic fundraisers

We are incredibly grateful for the continued support of our fundraisers. We would like to thank everyone who has hosted an event in aid of APP, as well as those who have donated; your support is greatly appreciated. We have had a fantastic response too for our #MilesForMumsAndBabies challenge. Thank you.

Alice Stroud, an APP volunteer (pictured above, left) is taking part in five triathlons over the next twelve months working towards the Olympic triathlon distance (a 1,500-metre swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run). Alice experienced psychosis twice during pregnancy in 2019 and into 2020 and was helped by APP’s peer support. She has already raised more than £1,400. You can visit and donate to Alice’s fundraising page here.

Rachel Lucas, her family and friends have formed a team of 11 to walk 1,400 miles for APP. Rachel, an APP volunteer, experienced PP two years ago and spent six weeks in Leeds MBU. She held a fundraiser with her family and friends called ‘Four million steps for APP’ during November last year and has also developed the ‘Blooming Mum to Be’ and ‘Brand New Mum’ boxes which she is selling via her website www.pourlamaman.co.uk, donating some of the profits to both APP and PANDAS Foundation. You can support her challenge here.

Virgin Money London Marathon. APP had six runners who took part in this year’s October events: Jason Sales and Andy Rolfe (pictured above, right) ran in the live event, whilst Sophie Raynor, Dave Orridge, Karen Lacey signed up for the virtual run. Together, they have raised more than £4,900 for APP. You can still visit and donate to their fundraising pages.

Royal Parks Half Marathon. We had four amazing runners who took part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon on 10th October Sally Hogg, Nicola Ball, Jeni Dibley-Rouse and Anneka Harry. Our runners have raised more than £4,000 for APP. You can still visit their fundraising pages by following the links.

Brockington Mother and Baby Unit staff (pictured above, centre) climbed Snowdon in October to support APP’s work. The team also recently helped APP volunteer Gemma Vinter to plant 240 bulbs in the grounds of the MBU, to provide a calming and beautiful space which will help patients’ recovery. The Snowden climb has raised more than £1,300 for APP.

Amy Coutts-Brittontook part in the Oswestry 10k in October. Amy is a peer support volunteer with APP and has attended events, meeting other mums like her who have experienced PP. Her run raised more than £450 for APP. You can visit and donate to her fundraising page here.

Steve Bushell ran the Yorkshire Marathon in October. Steve’s wife Jo experienced PP after the birth of their first child and spent time in an MBU where she received great care as part of her recovery. Steve raised more than £1,720 for APP and we would like to thank his employer M&G Prudential for matching funding £300. You can visit Steve’s fundraising page here.

Abi France ran the Liverpool Rock n Roll Marathon in October. Her sister experienced PP two and a half years ago, has recently had her second baby and the family have found the information and personal experiences on APP’s website very helpful. Abi raised more than £1,215 for APP. You can visit her fundraising page here.

Emily Saunders, a peer support volunteer with APP, walked and cycled more than 500 miles between 1st July and 14th November 2021. These dates are important to her as they are the dates she went into and then finally came out of Nottingham MBU in 2017 (having had two stays) when she had PP, severe PND and anxiety after the birth of her daughter. Emily chose the distance as it represents the almost 500 miles from the most northerly to the most southerly MBU. Emily has raised more than £506 for APP. You can donate to her challenge here.

The team from the new Perinatal Mental Health Service in Ayrshire and Arran challenged themselves to walk 1,400 miles throughout October. They work with mums who are affected by severe mental illness in the perinatal period, and wanted to take part in #MilesForMumsAndBabies to raise awareness of PP. They chose the distance as it represents the 1,400 mums who experience PP in the UK each year. The team have raised more than £1,250 for APP. You can donate to their challenge here.

Rachel Kerr walked 100 miles for her MilesForMumsAndBabies challenge. Rachel was hospitalised for three weeks in 2016 having developed PP after the birth of her daughter. Last year, she gave birth to her son and received support from APP. Rachel has raised more than £45 for APP.

Shirley Holmes, a health visitor, has walked the six different paths up Snowdon, a total of 48.5 miles, with her husband and sister joining her for some of the walks. Shirley decided to fundraise for APP after recently learning more about postpartum psychosis. She’s raised more than £472 for APP. You can donate to Shirley’s challenge here.

You can read more about the #MilesForMumsAndBabies - and our other fundraisers - here. You can still sign up to our Miles for Mums and Babies Fundraiser and set yourself, or your team a challenge to complete.

Facebook Fundraisers: Each month, we welcome new Facebook fundraisers, many of whom have supported APP and raised awareness of postpartum psychosis by holding a birthday fundraiser. It has been lovely to celebrate your special day with you.

If you have any fundraising ideas or would like to get involved, contact fundraising@app-network for more information. We would love to support you.

Dates for your diary

International Volunteer Day, Sunday 5th December www.un.org/en/observances/volunteer-day.

APP Sussex and Hampshire virtual café group meet up, Wednesday 8th December: APP Facebook events page.

APP South Wales virtual café group meet up, Thursday 9thDecember: APP Facebook events page.

APP Lancashire and South Cumbria face to face café group meet up, Friday 10th December: APP Facebook events page.

APP Lancashire and South Cumbria virtual café group meet up, Monday 13th December: APP Facebook events page.

APP Volunteers virtual Christmas Craft social evening, Tuesday14th December. Learn how to make festive bunting. To book your place please email us.

The Mum Poem Press online launch party for 'And How Is Mum?' zine, Tuesday 14th December. The event will also feature an open mic night and Christmas party www.themumpoempress.com.

APP Birmingham/Solihull virtual café group meet up, Wednesday 15th December: APP Facebook events page.

APP Lancashire and South Cumbria face to face café group meet up, Friday 17th December: APP Facebook events page.

APP Partners virtual café group meet up, Wednesday 19th January 2022: APP Facebook events page.

Upcoming conferences and events

Women and Bipolar webinar: Pregnancy and Childbirth, Thursday 2nd December.
Bipolar UK event with Dr Clare Dolman and Professor Ian Jones looking at how pregnancy and childbirth can affect women with bipolar and how they can give themselves the best chance of staying well. Register here.

London Maternity and Midwifery Festival, Tuesday 18th January 2022.
The first in the Maternity and Midwifery Forum’s 2022 series of regional and national festivals. Free of charge to all practising maternity and midwifery professionals and student midwives. Book tickets here.

Perinatal Mental Health Services: Improving access and support, Wednesday 2nd February 2022.

Virtual conference focusing on improving perinatal mental health services as well as access and support during and beyond Covid-19. Book tickets here. Members of the APP network will receive a 20% discount with code: hcuk20app.

If you would like to advertise your event here, please get in touch: app@app-network.org.

28 October 2021

Ruth's poetry about PP: Is it weird when I'm ill?

 

Ruth Stacey experienced postpartum psychosis in 2019 and spent time recovering at a Mother and Baby Unit. Here she shares two poems.

Is it weird when I'm ill?

Is it weird when I'm ill?

Do the family calls dry up like a lake desperate for water?

The dehydrated ground visible  - vulnerable

Or do the calls pile in, muddled and rushing like a river due to burst its banks?

Something must give eventually.

I have already 'given'

Entering my weird world of an altered reality, a fake truism, must disturb, peturb, frighten, confuse

The focus of our family pulled in - a black hole of queries and questions

Do we go along with her illness?

Do we challenge her new, temporary, fragile belief system?

No, you just tell her that she's right and everything will be alright:

Safe, safe, safe

Love, love, love

Desperate eyes, a heart beating so irratically that it doesn't know whether to feel excited or scared,

Whether to run or challenge or smile or laugh

Doing all perhaps, a simultaneous level of 'scare' to the time-shattered onlookers

No time for your own grief.

No time to shed your own harrowing tears

Not now although

It. Will. Come - I promise

Stick with me and my unpredictable beast-of-an-illness

Laugh when I'm crying and cuddle me like I was your baby again because this world is ultimate so new to me

I don't know what to do!

I don't know how to feel and I keep getting it so very wrong

Put your lives oh hold, onlookers - dry your precious tears and lend me your strength

Because I'll be back again

I just need your presence and love and hugs and reassurance to plug the terrible holes in my mental reality

My mental instability

I'll love you back forever

Is it weird when I'm ill?

Because, I'm so very sorry

MBU

MBU:
Distant yet near
Heart-renching, heart-healing
Confused-focus
Hair-pulling thanks
Deniable admission
Crazed sanity
Compelling kindness
Suffocating slowness
Halted healing
Psychosis revealing
Manic mothering
'Too tight' cuddling
Painted horizons
Hypermanic revelations
Doors closed, doors opened
Small world widened
Rosemary-scented serenity
Glass house hospital
So cared for yet utterly lonely
Feisty Independence
Utter dependence
Mouth fed, baby and me
Medication denial
Medication dependable
Sleep saviour
Clock-watching
Corner-cowering
Gritted teeth
forced smiles
Form filling
Mindfulness
Food hatred
Food lover
Baby carer - obsessor
Never neglector
Nightmare, daymare
Dream giver dream taker
Minutes rush
Days drag
Where even am I?
Where are you all?
Reflection redemption
Repeated affirmations
I can, I Will, I am...
MBU - how can what seemed a nightmare have been my saviour?
I felt like the unluckiest person alive,
Our baby doomed
A new reality of utter heartfelt appreciation, adoration
How time changes and heals
And a warmth glows fondly in the hole that was once was,
A year on reflection

 

26 October 2021

Toni’s story: "I know from experience that Mother and Baby Units are vital for recovery from PP".

When I gave birth to my daughter in 2019 I experienced severe postnatal depression and ended up staying in a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) for seven weeks. It was a long way from where we lived so I was grateful to be coming home with my baby girl when she was nine weeks old. I had a great couple of months and for a while everything seemed perfectly fine. Recovery was ongoing, but there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

Looking back, however, I can now see what the signs were, but it was hard to recognise them at the time.

For some reason, completely out of the blue, I tried to take my own life. I have no idea why I did it, I don’t know whether it was an impulse or a window of opportunity (I did it when I was alone in the house). I ended up in hospital for 24 hours, saw the crisis team and was sent home.

Soon after, my thinking became really distorted. I kept saying to my husband that perhaps I actually died when I tried to take my life. On reflection, I now believe this was the onset of postpartum psychosis (PP).

There are snapshots of things I remember, like not believing that colours were real. I was questioning the colour of everything – suggesting to my husband that we were seeing different things when we looked at a brown lampshade, for example. I also started believing that my baby daughter had been swapped and the baby I had at home wasn’t mine. And I remember seeing a nursery nurse walk into my neighbour’s house and thinking she was coming to take my baby away.

Strange fears and beliefs from when I was a child started to re-emerge as well. I remember telling my dad that he needed to lock the door before ‘Hammer Man’ came to get me (Hammer Man was a name we made up for someone we were scared of as kids – as you do when your imagination runs wild).

I still didn’t realise that there was anything wrong with me. However, I went to bed one night, feeling perfectly calm, woke up at 5.30am and got myself ready for a night out! I was doing my hair, makeup, putting evening clothes on and I was really high and full of energy.

Because my daughter was about six months old by this point, we weren’t really alert to the risk of any new potential mental health problems as so much time had passed. My husband thought I was unusually quite happy, but he put it down to exhaustion. Plus, he had to take our son to school that day so I was home alone with our baby girl.

I remember feeling really happy, singing and dancing around the house with a photo of my son in one hand and one of my daughter in the other. I couldn’t see that this wasn’t normal behaviour for me at the time.

Luckily, I had an appointment with the perinatal mental health team that day. A nurse came out to see me and she immediately spotted the signs that all was not well. I remember she told me that she had to nip to Morrison’s and she asked me if I wanted anything. Obviously, looking back, I can see that she was going to make some calls and arrange to get me to hospital, but at the time I just went along with it, thinking it was normal to nip out to a supermarket half way through a mental health appointment.

The nurse returned shortly afterwards with the dummies I had asked for, as well as some chocolate for me. She stayed with me and explained that I needed to go to Ward F at our local psychiatric hospital for an assessment.

Strangely, and probably because I was so high, I was over the moon about going to hospital. It didn’t register that it was because I was unwell, and I just felt excited about being able to talk to everyone there.

About a week after I was admitted my mood changed dramatically from being really elated and happy to feeling empty. Unfortunately, after thinking they’d be able to get me a bed back on the MBU I was in a few months earlier when I had PND, they weren’t able to secure me a place. We didn’t have an MBU in Wales which is why I was so far away from home the first time I was hospitalised, but now I couldn’t even get in there. I felt a strong sense of rejection, loss and emptiness at that point. My mania had dropped and depression was hitting me again.

After about four weeks I was thankfully able to go home full time under the care of my perinatal mental health team, who continued to support me throughout.

Hospital environments are very different to being in an MBU, and I really didn’t want my children visiting me on the ward. MBUs have more of a homely, comforting environment, and the facilities are geared up for mums with young babies and visiting families. Hospitals, on the other hand, can feel much more clinical and hectic, with lots of people coming and going – different patients, doctors, nurses and visitors.

This is why I ploughed so much energy into the campaign to get an MBU in Wales, which we now thankfully have at Tonna Hospital in Swansea. It’s called Uned Gobaith – which means Unit of Hope. Whilst the one in Derby that I went to with depression before PP hit was comfortable, it was almost 300 miles from home. I will never forget the three-hour journey there on the minibus. It was dark, and I remember my husband waving me off - I was so anxious and upset to leave him there. It still upsets me now when I think about that night.

But being so far from home also made it really difficult for my husband to visit and, given the fact he was looking after our son, as well as working full time, I only saw him about once a fortnight.

Having your baby with you, regular visitors, toys for your children to play with and your own private room to bond with your child, combined with the specialist facilities that new mums and their babies need, makes a huge difference for those of us who experience PP. It can actually help us to recover more quickly from the devastating symptoms.

Seeing the new MBU open, and seeing the brilliant surroundings and facilities will hopefully mean that other new mums in my position will have a faster and more comfortable recovery from this awful illness. It’s a real step forward.

 

25 October 2021

APP 2021 Survey

 

We are launching APPs biggest ever survey about the care women receive for postpartum psychosis. We’d like to reach at least 500 women who have experienced PP.

The survey will help us to understand how differences in the types of care women receive for postpartum psychosis impacts on their experiences and recovery outcomes. The findings will help with our campaigning over the next 10 years.

The survey coincides with APP’s 10 year anniversary. Since gaining charity status in 2011, we have caused a sea-change in awareness of PP, services, and support. This survey will also help us understand the way that care has changed in the ten years since our last survey.

The survey takes about 20-30 minutes to fill in and asks about your care for PP. If you have completed it by post in the past 2 weeks - or if you have been a member of APP for a long time and completed the survey 10 years ago - you do not need to complete it again.
You can find more information and take the survey here: https://bit.ly/APPSURVEY2021

If you haven’t had PP personally, you can still help us by sharing the link with anyone who has. You can read more information about our biggest ever survey here:  https://bit.ly/APPINFO

We’d like to say a huge thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey.

Click here to take the survey

22 October 2021

Dellasposa Gallery silent art auction in support of APP

Dellasposa Gallery held a silent art auction in support of Action on Postpartum Psychosis on Thursday 4th November, in memory of Alice Gibson-Watt (née Montagu-Douglas-Scott), who passed away in 2012 due to complications resulting from postpartum psychosis. Alice is the cousin of Julian Phillimore, the Founder and Director of Dellasposa.

The silent auction was hosted by BBC Antiques Roadshow's Jonty Hearnden, with a brilliant selection of artworks by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Sir Peter Blake, Michael Craig Martin, Ben Eine, David Shrigley, Sara Pope, Quentin Blake, among many others.

To view the auction catalogue follow the link here.

We would like to say a huge thank you Dellasposa for supporting APP.

 

Dr Jessica Heron, Chief Executive of APP, says 'We have been so grateful for the support that Alice's friends, family, colleagues at Sotheby's and the Antiques Roadshow have given us over the past 10 years. Their support has made an enormous difference to the growth and reach of our charity, and meant that we have been able to provide life-saving support to women and families, train health professionals throughout the UK, and campaign for appropriate services for those who suffer postpartum psychosis. We are delighted that Jonty Hearnden will be the celebrity Auctioneer and for the impressive pieces being sold to support our charity.'

For further information on the silent auction and related exhibition, you can write to info@dellasposa.com

13 October 2021

Spring bulb planting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year the Royal Horticultural Society joined forces with BBC’s The One Show to bring the ‘Garden of Hope’ to the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show (21st to 26th September 2021). The garden is now being donated to the Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) Rosewood (part of Kent and Medway NHS Social Care Partnership Trust). The beautiful blooms will help create a sanctuary and place of hope for the mothers and babies there. There are more details about the project in this article. 

To tie in with this lovely idea, APP volunteer Gemma Vinter (pictured above, left) has been sourcing donations of bulbs to give to the UK’s 22 MBUs to help brighten up their grounds.  

Gemma teamed up with staff at Stafford’s MBU to plant 240 spring bulbs, kindly donated by J.Parker’s Dutch Bulbs in the ward’s garden. She visited the Brockington Unit at St George’s Hospital in Stafford in September, and was joined by Laura Fox (pictured above, right) from the MBU as well as other members of the team. 

Gemma says she hopes that spending time outside with lots of lovely plants and flowers will encourage a little bit of “me time” to help patients’ recovery, alongside the invaluable help and treatment that MBUs provide.

Laura and some of her colleagues from Brockington MBU climbed Snowdon on 2nd October to raise money for APP.  You can find out more and still donate to their challenge here. 

APP would like to thank Gemma and all the staff at Brockington MBU for their hard work and support.

 

12 October 2021

Steve runs the Yorkshire Marathon for APP

Steve Bushell ran the Yorkshire Marathon on Sunday 17th October 2021 to raise awareness and money to support APP’s work. Steve is the husband of Jo Bushell, who has also held several fundraisers for APP.

Steve said: “Shortly after the birth of our first child, my wife suffered an episode of postpartum psychosis (PP).

It hit us a few days into parenthood, following a week of zero sleep. The most terrifying thing that night when we called an ambulance was the realisation that in addition to me and our family not understanding what was happening, neither did any of the medical staff or paramedics on call that Sunday.

Jo was transferred to a Mother and Baby Unit the following day and received great care as part of her recovery.

APP provides support for women and families who have experienced PP and strives to raise awareness of the illness. They also create networks to connect those with lived experience and campaign for better services.”

Steve’s fundraiser has raised more than £1,720. We would like to say a huge thank you to Steve for supporting APP and to all who have donated including Steve's employer M&G Prudential who have match funded £300.

You can still visit and donate to his fundraising page here.

If you have been inspired by Steve, we would love to support any fundraising ideas you have. Get in touch here.

 

Amy’s Oswestry 10k run for APP

Amy Coutts-Britton took part in the Oswestry 10k on Sunday 17th October 2021 to raise awareness and money to support APP’s work. Amy is a peer support volunteer with APP and has attended training events, meeting other mums like her who have experienced postpartum psychosis.

Amy said: “I have decided to reignite my running career 15 years post marathon.

I believe this APP is more important than ever during the pandemic as when you’re going through potentially one of the scariest things in your life it can help you feel less alone and be a fab informative and listening ear when so many baby groups etc have been limited.

APP trains peer supporters such as myself to provide forum based online support but also gives us the means to provide 1:1 support for people going through this traumatic experience, including their partners and wider families. APP also arranges café groups so we can meet up in person and feel less alienated.

It really is a shining light in the darkness that is postpartum psychosis.”

Amy’s fundraiser has raised more than £455. We would like to say a huge thank you to Amy for supporting APP and to all who have donated.

You can still visit and donate to her fundraising page here.

If you have been inspired by Amy, we would love to support any fundraising ideas you have. Get in touch here.

8 October 2021

Our 'Fabulous Four' who ran this year's Royal Parks Half Marathon

For this year's Royal Parks Half Marathon which took place on Sunday 10th October, APP had four amazing runners: Sally Hogg, Nicola Ball, Jeni Dibley-Rouse and Anneka Harry.The Half Marathon was held in central London, and took in the capital’s world-famous landmarks on closed roads, and four of London’s eight Royal Parks – Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James’s Park and Kensington Gardens - in all their autumnal glory.

Sally has worked on improving services for women with perinatal mental health problems and is an admirer of APP’s work, particularly the central role played by women with lived experience. Sally completed a skydive with team APP in 2018, and ran a virtual half marathon in her local area for APP in October 2020 after the Royal Parks ‘live’ event was postponed due to Covid-19. She also ran in this year’s live event.

Sally says: "Two of my friends have had postpartum psychosis (PP), and through my work I’ve met many other women who have suffered from PP. APP is a fantastic charity which provides information and support to women and their families, trains health professionals and facilitates research. The charity has been instrumental in campaigning for improvements to services for women with PP across the UK. Women who experience PP have a very difficult and unusual experience of early motherhood. In addition, the stigma associated with mental illness can make it hard for them to talk about their experience. APP’s peer support helps women and families affected by PP feel understood, supported and less isolated”

You can still visit and donate to Sally’s JustGiving page here.

Nicola says: “In 2016 I was diagnosed with PP after the birth of my daughter. A relatively unknown mental illness that affects 1-2 in 1,000 births. This year to raise money and just as importantly raise awareness I will be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon with my amazing friend Jeni Dibley-Rouse who has been incredible."

You can still visit and donate to Nicola’s JustGiving page here.

Jeni says: “I am very proud to be running the Royal Parks half marathon for APP and supporting our friends Nicola and James. They have overcome PP with the support of this amazing charity. The work that APP completes is vital in supporting and raising awareness of the condition, please donate to help support the APP and help me through the last few weeks of training.”

You can still visit and donate to Jeni’s JustGiving page here.

Anneka chose to support APP after her friend, APP Ambassador Laura Dockrill, experienced PP. She says: “In 2018, postpartum psychosis tried to steal my friend Laura Dockrill from her son, her partner, her family and friends. From her very own life. When Laura was in the psychiatric hospital, I wrote her a poem to act as a mirror, to remind her why she is the best friend and human being. Laura not only survived but, as she says herself, she surTHRIVED. And she has come out the other side an EVEN BETTER version of the best friend and human being! APP is a small charity doing big work – promoting awareness, funding research and campaigning to help more women and families surthrive.”

You can still visit and donate to Anneka’s VirginMoneyGiving page here.

Our four runners have raised more than £3,900 for APP. We would like to thank Sally, Nicola, Jeni, and Anneka for supporting APP and everyone who has donated.

If you have been inspired by our runners, we would love to support any fundraising ideas you have. Get in touch here.

7 October 2021

Campaign for better care for postpartum psychosis this World Mental Health Day

It’s World Mental Health Day on Sunday 10th October 2021 and this year’s theme is ‘mental health in an unequal world.’

Each year about 140,000 mums around the world will experience postpartum psychosis. Their experience of care varies hugely. Within the UK inequality remains. In Northern Ireland, around 35 mums will experience postpartum psychosis each year, with no access to a Mother and Baby Unit. In Wales, 50 mums will develop postpartum psychosis: mums in the north have to travel to South Wales or over the border into England for care. Half of the mums in Scotland who need a Mother and Baby Unit bed still do not receive one. General psychiatric wards are inappropriate for newly-delivered mums, lacking appropriate facilities, access to specialist professionals and knowledge, and forcing separation from babies.

We are using World Mental Health Day to further raise awareness of postpartum psychosis and campaign for better care – including more Mother and Baby Units to help keep families together and to recover more quickly.

How you can help this World Mental Health Day:

Join APP's call for access to Mother and Baby Units for mums who experience postpartum psychosis wherever they live in the world. We’d love for as many people as possible to help us spread our message.

#KeepMumsAndBabiesTogether
You can help by sharing our social media posts on World Mental Health Day.

Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
See us on Instagram

Remember to tag @ActionOnPP and use the hashtags #KeepMumsAndBabiesTogether and #WorldMentalHealthDay

If you live in an area of the UK without access to a Mother and Baby Unit please get in touch by emailing app@www.app-network.org. We'd love to hear your story.

Other ways to support this World Mental Health Day:

Go The Extra Mile For @ActionOnPP
To raise much needed funds in support of our work, join our #MilesForMumsAndBabies fundraising challenge. This World Mental Health Day we are asking people to ‘Go The Extra Mile For @ActionOnPP’ and donate £2 to support our #MilesForMumsAndBabies 2021 campaign. Donate here: https://bit.ly/DonateToActionOnPP.

Sign the petition for a Mother and Baby Unit in Northern Ireland
Action on Postpartum Psychosis volunteer, Oorlagh Quinn, has set up a petition calling for a Mother and Baby Unit in Northern Ireland. More than 3,000 people have signed the petition so far but we need more signatures. Find out more about Oorlagh’s campaign for a Mother and Baby Unit in Northern Ireland and sign the petition.

Volunteer with us in Northern Ireland
If you have experienced postpartum psychosis and live in Northern Ireland we’d love you to become a volunteer with us as we try to build our peer support, campaigning and storytelling networks in the region - join the APP Network.