My Blog

Having had the weekend to rest and relax after the excitement of last Wednesday’s event, here is the second part of my thoughts and description of the day. What else made it ‘phenomenal’ as described by one of the attendees?

The delegates

Many had travelled a long way to be in Manchester – some from Cornwall and from Scotland. It was a range of healthcare professionals including consultants, midwives, mental health nurses, lecturers, health visitors, matrons and psychiatrists and along with some students and parents. Many people commented on the ‘buzz’ in the room. During presentations you could have heard a pin drop – in the breaks the positive vibe and atmosphere was amazing! Delegates made the most of visiting the stands and speaking to other people. I am so pleased that I have received many messages from people thanking me for enabling them to connect with others. I was thrilled that people that I have been in contact with over the years had attended and had interacted with organisations I have been involved in e.g. The Open University. It was lovely to be able to introduce them to my son and parents.  If you were in the audience – thank you so much for being there!

The speakers

My idea for the day was to bring the new book ‘Another twinkle in the eye – contemplating another pregnancy after perinatal mental illness’ to life.  I had invited many of the people who contributed to it to speak on the day – the vast majority said yes so we had a very full programme! In line with the football theme of the venue we had a yellow and red card to attempt to keep to time! I chaired the day and introduced each speaker with how I knew them.

Firstly the day was opened by Jeanne Lythgoe, Lecturer in Midwifery/ Supervisor of Midwives from Salford University. She explained that through my years of speaking to their students, the connection had been made with Salford CPD who then had done all of the logistics, etc. for the day.

I began the programme by saying how delighted I was with the progress in the perinatal mental health area since I shared my first book 10 years ago. I chose not to do a full presentation today – I wanted to give the platform to others. I get plenty of say in the new book! I had visualised ‘the moment’ of standing at the start of this day for a long time. I felt very proud and excited – even more so to introduce my son Marius and my parents.

First to the lectern was Grace who spoke about her journey  of puerperal psychosis and the wonderful follow-up to having twins happily and healthily a few years later. You can read her incredible account of her illness in her book ‘Saving Grace‘.

When Abi took to the stand she gave us all permission to express our emotions – as a photo of her second baby, only a few months old, was shown she became tearful. I reassured her and all present that sometimes shedding a tear can be a good thing. We are all human and often rather than attempting to stop a tear as an onlooker, it may be better simply to pass a tissue and wait until the moment has passed! I was so pleased that this happened because it then allowed us all to be comfortable the rest of the day without fear of judgement. Abi spoke of her mental health challenges with her pregnancies and reassured ‘life does go on after postnatal depression and it does get better’.

Next was Tracey, who described her postnatal illness and her challenges against stigma.

One of her tips is ‘Don’t be put off from considering more children if you’ve always wanted a bigger family. You could feel more guilt and disappointment in the long run if you let the illness stop you, and there’s a chance you could become unwell again even if you don’t have another child. If you have unresolved issues about your illness seek counselling to talk these over and help you decide what’s best for you regarding future children.’

Our final Mum in the first section was Amy. After suffering postpartum psychosis after her first baby Amy, thought long and hard about a second pregnancy. Although she suffered psychosis for a second time last year she attributes her recovery to the support that was put into place by the perinatal mental health team in her area. She also brought her own Mum with her and we acknowledged how difficult these illnesses are for the whole family. She made everyone laugh at the fact her photo featured her children – and their dog – with without her husband! He has been such a support to her.

We then had the interruption of ‘the burger van’ situation! As there was a football match later that day various stalls were setting up outside. We had a message from a lady with her burger van stating that unless a number of cars were moved NOW then she would refuse to move until midnight tonight!

Unfortunately we then had a technical hitch that meant the projector did not work for my next speaker Dr Angelika Wieck, Consultant in Perinatal Psychiatry, Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust Manchester. She described to us some of the work that is done at Mother and Baby units in the UK. She has written a very informative chapter in my book that includes the fascinating history of their developments. We all agree that there need to be more. Each delegate received a copy of the economic review published last year. The cost to the public sector of perinatal mental health problems is 5 times the cost of improving services.

Then it was coffee, networking and time to visit the stands …

To be continued ..

Thanks to my son Marius for all of these pictures.

Elaine 🙂