The election is nearby and the country awaits to see what difference a likely change of government will bring. I run a local charity supporting families, with our main project being Mothers Uncovered, providing peer-led support for mothers at various stages of matrescence (the transition to motherhood). The mothers who lead sessions are trained in group facilitation, but the focus is on discussion and peer connection. It offers a creative and conversational outlet for mothers to explore their experiences, offering preventative support to help women before they reach a crisis point. Many past participants directly credit our groups for aiding their mental health, which in turn affects their lives and their ability to care for their families.
The people we meet are increasingly distracted, anxious, scattered in their thoughts. More than they’ve ever been in the fifteen years we’ve been running. It’s not just the failing maternity wards they might have encountered or the birth trauma they have inevitably been through. They’re really scared about what is happening to the environment, the world they are bringing children into and bringing them up in. It seems to a lot of us that world leaders are more preoccupied about who gets to live on which bit of land, rather than protecting the land we all live on. Because no-one owns the land and their manoeuvres are akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Environment aside, my work is around ensuring mothers receive the help and support they need. Suicide remains the leading cause of death in new mothers and at least one in five mothers experiences problems that have significant repercussions.
The impacts on children from perinatal mental health conditions can include: preterm birth, disordered attachment, cognitive impairment, emotional difficulties and social impairment, behavioural problems and special educational needs (1). Some studies have also found associations with poor infant physical growth and development. Postnatal depression has been associated with deterioration of the marital relationship, increase in family conflict, and has a detrimental impact on the partner’s mental health, as well as causing financial problems (2,3).
Taking this into account, and also the eye-watering fact that inadequate maternal care costs the UK around £8bn EVERY YEAR, you’d think this would be high up on the agenda. Sadly not. While all of the manifestos address mental health issues more broadly, there is a lack of information about how the policies will work in practice.
Labour claims that trusts failing on maternity care will be ‘robustly supported into rapid improvement’, training thousands more midwives as part of the NHS Workforce Plan and setting an explicit target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap.
I was pleased to see this last bit of information, as the disparity in outcomes for this demographic is truly appalling. The Lib Dems also state that as an aim, and are also the only manifesto that specifically mentions ‘perinatal mental health support for those who are pregnant, new mothers and those who have experienced miscarriage or stillbirth.’
If I were creating a manifesto, I would put greater investment into peer support. Lived experience groups for a range of situations; including bereavement, mental health conditions, addiction, disability and so on; have a much greater success rate in enabling people to recover from difficult situations and move forward with their lives. Mothers Uncovered is sometimes seen to be the same as Home Start, but we focus on the needs of the mother. We are struck by how many of our participants express the feeling that NO group they have attended has understood, or been able to help with, what they are going through. Some say they were diagnosed with post-natal depression, many more didn’t go to their doctor, feeling they could or should battle on regardless. We are not a practical advice service; we provide a space where mothers can come together to create a community that often continues for several months or even years.
Baby/parent groups are often informal drop-ins, which are excellent if a mother is feeling robust and confident and knows others attending. Yet many mothers find themselves completely alone following the birth of their baby, having no community around them who understands what they’re going through. A drop-in is not the right place to explore difficult or painful feelings with people they have just met.
Lastly, we are different to services run by therapists and professionals. The unique and often underestimated value of peer support is that sharing a similar experience with somebody provides a participant with the tools they need going forward for better mental health and happiness. Health professionals can be excellent clinicians, but they don’t have to be mothers to do their job. Also, treating people in isolation doesn’t build that community, which is desperately needed.
- Stein, A.
- Boath, EH.
- Burke, L.
