Community Roots in Preston played host to our first ever perinatal listening event on Wednesday 14 May. The event invited mums who have previously accessed our perinatal mental health services to share their experiences, feedback and stories in an informal and relaxed setting.
Our perinatal services have been established since 2018, and from their conception lived experience has played a vital role in designing, launching and the ongoing service offer.
Philip Hayes, Perinatal Quality, Development and Training Lead explains:
“Today is the first of many planned listening events for our perinatal mental health service. The information collected today will feed into service user councils and best practice groups to make the necessary changes for improvement. It was important for us that children were invited to remove any barriers to childcare which could have prevented attendance.”
The event was organised and opened by Gemma Pye, Perinatal Peer Support Lead, having been a service user herself Gemma is passionate about collecting feedback and making meaningful changes, reminding the mums in attendance that the Trust want their voices to be heard.
Throughout the event the atmosphere was inclusive and calm. Mums were invited to sit in small groups whilst the children had the opportunity to play games and enjoy refreshments supervised by Trust staff.
Among the attendees were Ashleigh, Gemma and Lisa, each with their own unique journeys but a shared desire to give back.
Ashleigh received care from the perinatal community mental health team two years ago after the birth of her daughter, she spoke of her desire to help other mums:
"I want to give back and show my appreciation for the service. They helped me through a really difficult time, and now I want to help other mums in similar situations. I’m in the final stages of becoming a volunteer peer support worker and I’m really eager to share my experiences in the hope it will support others struggling.”
Throughout the morning colleagues from Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) led craft activities to practise mindfulness, togetherness and prompt conversations around wellbeing and recovery. APP work closely with the Trust providing face to face peer support and information to mums and their families in the community and also at our Mother and Baby Unit (MBU), Ribblemere in Chorley.
Gemma who accessed perinatal services after her mental health declined following the birth of her son, shared her story with the group saying:
"I don’t want my pain to go to waste, I want to show other mums there is hope and life after being unwell. I still feel there is a real stigma around admitting you are struggling mentally as a new mum but I want to help break that stigma by sharing my experiences.
Being here today is a full circle moment for me as I’ve recently left my job working with the elderly to work as a perinatal peer support worker with the trust. Being able to help others feels like the final step in my healing journey.”
As the event came to an end it was evident how meaningful the morning had been for everyone who attended.
Lisa, a mother of four, reflected on her own experiences adding:
"With my first child, 16 years ago, I suffered from postnatal depression but didn’t get any help, it wasn’t until I had my third child, three years ago, that I reached out to the perinatal mental health team. Being here today has been a wonderful chance to reflect on my journey and share my story but also introduce my four month old baby girl to Gemma and Ashleigh, who I met through our circle of security support group.”
The Trust is planning to run future listening events.
Gemma Pye concluded:
“We would like to thank everybody who joined us, it was a wonderful chance to gather feedback but also create a space for connection, hope and healing. Having our research posters on display, and some of our team here to explain the research opportunities to Mums in attendance, meant we could promote other ways to contribute to the development of knowledge and services. All of the mums were keen to be active voices in the research studies.”
I’m excited to continue these listening events and put the feedback into practise to make real tangible changes and improvements to our services.”
