A big Thank You to Kat who walked 23 miles in the Glasgow Royal Bank of Scotland Kiltwalk on Sunday 28th April and raised over £500 in aid of APP - amazing!
Kat chose to support APP as she says: "For anyone who knows me this charity and its cause have been a major influence and passion of mine throughout my nursing career. This has only increased in my new amazing role as a Perinatal Mental Health Nurse. Action on Postpartum Psychosis support women and families affected by Postpartum Psychosis (PP). PP is a severe mental illness which begins extremely suddenly following childbirth. In the UK, just over 1400 women each year experience PP."
Kat said she had so much fun taking part that she plans to do it again next year for APP, which would be amazing - Thank you Kat!
Kat and her friend who supported the British Heart Foundation
Thanks to Kat and to everyone who supported her and donated to APP - we couldn't do this with you.
The North Wales Perinatal Mental Health Team are coming together with colleagues, friends and representatives of lived experience, including APP Training Coordinator, Sally Wilson, to walk up Snowdonia on the 22nd of June, in aid of APP and PANDAs!
They say: "The aim of this is to raise awareness of perinatal mental health, and raise funds for charities that support women and families affected by perinatal mental illness. Our chosen charities are PANDAs who provide pre and postnatal depression advice and support and APP who support women and families affected by postpartum psychosis. Any donations will be very much appreciated, to help these wonderful charities to continue supporting women and families affected by perinatal mental illness."
A big Thank You to the team putting on a 'Grand Charity Sale' at Llanmorlais Village Hall on Sunday 16th June in aid of APP and Llanrhidian Primary School!
The Grand Charity Sale is on from 10am until 3pm on Sunday 16th June, at Llanmorlais Village Hall, Swansea, SA4 3TZ. There'll be lots of items on sale including a variety of fab gifts (Father's Day is fast approaching!) plus cakes, bakes, and a variety of refreshments as well as clothes and all sorts!
They say: "Come and join us to support APP & Llanrhidian Primary School. All proceeds to be divided equally between our two organisations. If you have items to donate to the sale: Please bring them to Llanmorlais Village Hall on Saturday 15th June from 10.30am til 3pm or contact Heather Heron to arrange to drop them off beforehand. Or buy your own table to sell your wares (second hand clothes & toys, cakes, farm produce etc, £25 per table, contact Heather Heron: 07866265696).If you: are willing to bake cakes, scones, biscuits to sell; can donate tea, coffee, milk, squash, donate a bottle or Father’s Day tombola gift; or if you can help on the day, please get in touch!"
A very big Thank You to Kimberley, who is hosting an 8-hour fitness event on 18th August in aid of APP!
The event is taking place at Lakenheath Pavilion from 10:00-18:00, in Lakenheath, Suffolk. You can sign up for any (or all!) of the different eight hour long sessions, run by trained instructions, for a small donation, and we're told there'll also be a bouncy castle for children and food and drinks will be provided too. What a fun way to raise funds for APP!
Kimberley says: "After the birth of my first child in 2015 I was diagnosed with Postpartum Psychosis after displaying some very disturbing behaviours such as; delusions, beliefs and actions. I became severely mentally ill very fast and was eventually sectioned. This was a very terrifying time for me and those close to me. Mind and APP helped me so much throughout my diagnosis and continue to help me now! Although I have recovered from the Psychosis I battle with Depression. I have recently had my second child and avoided the onset of Psychosis with the help from professionals, my family and these charities! I would love to give something to these charities for quite literally saving my life!"
We wish Emma and her mum the very best of luck as they attempt to complete the 25k Trekfest challenge on the SAS training ground of the Brecon Beacons on 6th July, in the hope to raise some funds for Action on Postpartum Psychosis "a charity very close to [their] hearts."
Emma says: "Towards the end of 2014, following the birth of my second son, I was admitted to a mother and baby unit after being diagnosed with a rare illness we had never heard of until then, postpartum psychosis. My son and I remained in the unit for 8 weeks until I was well enough to return home and continue the recovery.
In 2014 it was estimated that only 3 per cent of the country had access to perinatal mental health care, whereas now the country is on course to achieve full geographical coverage with the support of the Action on Postpartum Psychosis charity. At the time I was admitted to the nearest mother and baby unit which was over one hour away, but luckily I was able to get a bed and stay with my baby, many others unfortunately are not as lucky. There are now 17 mother and baby units across the UK, which on average have 8-10 beds per unit.
Thank you for reading, and your generosity, however big or small is massively appreciated."
Thank you so much to Emma and her mum for all their support and hard work - we hope you have a fantastic day on 6th July in the fabulous Brecon Beacons!
Would you like to enjoy the exhilarating and unforgettable feeling of a skydive - flying through the clouds from over 10,000 ft at up to 120 mph?
If you are looking for the experience of a lifetime, we would be delighted if you would like to take on a sponsored free fall parachute jump in aid of APP, and if you raise enough sponsorship, you can jump for free!
We have teamed up with Skyline, a professional charity fundraising events organiser, to offer APP’s supporters this amazing experience of flying through the clouds. You will be strapped to your qualified British Parachute Association tandem instructor who does all the hard work for you, leaving you to enjoy the invigorating feeling of free falling before gliding to the ground.
You can jump from any one of over twenty BPA approved airfields across the UK and no experience is necessary as you will be given training before your jump.
Watch Skyline's exhilarating video of a Tandem Jump to get a feel for what it might be like for you, below:
This incredible challenge will give you the biggest adrenaline rush you could ever imagine and you soar through the air knowing that you have helped raise invaluable funds for APP: as a small charity, your energy is vital to ensure we can keep operating our information and peer support services.
A huge Thank You to Dominic, who very bravely jumped out of a plane and did a skydive in aid of APP on 11th May!
Dominic had a fantastic experience, with lots of sunshine and a gorgeous blue sky filled day, which certainly helped!
Dominic chose to fundraise for APP after his sister suffered with PP, he said: "I’m doing this to help break the stigma of perinatal mental health and support those who need it most, like my sister did. Talking to my sister, Kerry, I said I wanted to a charity skydive and that’s when she mentioned I should do it for the charities close to her, and I felt that APP would be an amazing charity to support. When Kerry’s illness was at its worse I couldn't help as I didn't know anything about it. She was too scared to talk and too frightened about what might happen if she did. Now that she is better I know she reached out to charities like PANDAS and APP. Knowing that I couldn’t help my sister at the time, as she was too scared to talk or reach out, was extremely heart breaking not only for me but for our family and friends as well. This is why I have chosen to do a sky dive for APP, to raise the much needed money to keep charities like this going, as they were invaluable to her."
Dominic has raised an amazing £550 so far! And you can still donate via his JustGiving page here.
Thank you so much to Dominic and to everyone who so generously donated - we really couldn't do this without you!
A big Thank You to Ele and her husband Greg, who are doing a skydive on 26th August in aid of APP!
Ele said she wanted to fundraise after she developed postpartum psychosis after the birth of their son in 2016. She says "Three years on, I’m still recovering and keen to do anything I can to raise money for the charity which has helped me and my family so much on our journey, APP (Action on Postpartum Psychosis). I have benefited so much from the peer support programme in particular and the opportunity to meet other women near me who have been through a similar mental health crisis to me.
I have to admit the idea of skydiving terrifies me as I’ve inherited my Dad’s vertigo, but I’ve learnt that fears take up as much space as you’ll give them so I’m keen to overcome the fear and jump to help other ladies in the future who will need the support of APP in their lives. Please help me raise money for this amazing cause! Every donation will help. My husband Greg will be jumping with me. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means such a huge amount to us."
Please visit their GoFundMe page here and donate what you can. Thank you.
With huge thanks to a very brave Ele and Greg!
If you are interested in doing a skydive in aid of APP click here to find out more.
Huge thanks to Oórlagh and her amazing team of friends and family who took part in the Belfast Marathon and 9 Mile Walk on Sunday 5th May in aid of APP, and have so far raised over £2,500! What a fantastic achievement!
Oórlagh's team also extended to Aberdeen where three members of her family did their own 9 miles and managed to raise over £300!
Dr Jess Heron interviews Mark Casebow, Director of Louis Theroux’s new documentary, Mothers on the Edge.
It was lovely to meet you during the process of filming for the new documentary. We are delighted that Louis is helping to bring this issue into the mainstream. It’s only the second documentary that has managed to navigate the many ethical & practical issues involved in making a documentary like this, so it’s a huge credit to you and Flo to have successfully navigated this.
Mark Casebow
Did you know about Postpartum Psychosis before you started filming?
No, I don’t think I had ever heard of PP before starting this project. I had some basic knowledge about postnatal depression, but I was pretty ignorant about perinatal mental health to be honest.
What was important to you in the making of the programme?
Mother and Baby Units are such an unfamiliar world to most people. The idea was for Louis to experience what it’s like for patients in crisis, and also their families and the staff who try to help them recover.
Despite people being much more open about their struggles with mental health issues in recent years, it still feels like there is a particular taboo or stigma around discussing mental health issues brought on by having babies.
It was really important for us that everyone taking part was happy with the way we have handled their stories, and I hope that they feel that participating in a documentary has been a positive thing to have done during such a difficult time in their lives.
Was there anything that surprised you?
Many things were surprising - like most people I had never set foot inside a psychiatric ward. You carry lots of preconceived and often inaccurate ideas about what they are like. But mostly I was surprised by the honestly and bravery of the women and their families who allowed us to film them at an extremely vulnerable time in their lives.
You met up with the APP team during the filming process - how was this helpful?
It was really helpful to understand more about the condition from recovered women and also from an academic perspective, and to hear more about care and campaigning nationally. It was useful to hear about the messages that women and families who have experienced this illness would like to share with the public.
Hearing about your work helped us to appreciate how much women can benefit from talking about their experience with people who have been through something similar during their recovery, and we saw that on the MBU's themselves with patients often forming really strong friendships there.
We hoped we could show peer support in action at an APP café group, but unfortunately it was not possible in the time frame.
What do you hope the impact of the programme will be?
I hope that the documentary will do something to help to reduce the stigma around PP and other mental health crises that can happen after having a baby. I also hope it will raise awareness of these issues more generally and show people the extraordinary work done by mother and baby units.
Are there any ambitions you had for the programme that were practically or ethically unfeasible?
We knew that filming patients as they were experiencing acute PP was difficult for a number of reasons and we would only be able to proceed cautiously and with the consent of the family and clinicians. We also knew would have to seek consent again from patients when they had recovered and had capacity to participate in the filming.
As expected it did prove very difficult to start filming with patients whilst they were most unwell, but we also made a positive decision to not just focus on the acute phase of the illness and to follow patients during recovery and the difficult transition to living back at home.
What would you most like to change in the future for women and families affected by PP?
The Mother and Baby Units we filmed in were all filled with dedicated staff, I feel like they are a real NHS success story and I hope that this comes across in the documentary.
Like all public services these units are juggling scarce resources with high demand. I hope soon what is still a patchy national service will become available to all women who experience PP no matter where they live.
It was also clear that community mental health services are really overstretched in some areas and this can make the transition home more difficult for many women and their families.
Hopefully more funding will also be directed towards recovery, and to support services like those APP provide for women and their families once they get back home.
Louis Theroux’s documentary Mothers on the Edge will be broadcast on Sunday 12th May 2019 at 21:00.
A big Thank You to Ele and her husband Greg, who are doing a skydive on 26th August in aid of APP!
I have to admit the idea of skydiving terrifies me as I’ve inherited my Dad’s vertigo, but I’ve learnt that fears take up as much space as you’ll give them so I’m keen to overcome the fear and jump to help other ladies in the future who will need the support of APP in their lives. Please help me raise money for this amazing cause! Every donation will help. My husband Greg will be jumping with me. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means such a huge amount to us."
