My Blog

It has been 11 years since I resigned my teaching career to spread awareness and campaign for better recognition, services and facilities for women and their families affected by poor mental health after having a baby. I suffered from puerperal psychosis after the birth of my son in 1996. I had no previous history of mental illness and, as a family, it hit us all hard. We never knew how severe it could get. My story was published in 2005,  ‘Eyes without Sparkle – a journey through postnatal illness’ (CRC Press).

At the time there were no similar books that had been published. Social media was not around and the baby magazines printed very little on maternal mental health. Since that time, I work as long and as hard as I am able, to speak to as many audiences as possible, including television and radio, conferences, articles etc. I want to get my message “out there” to help both individuals and healthcare professionals. Tomorrow, for example, I speak to students at Salford University. I have never counted my audiences – it must be in the thousands of people.

Then EastEnders decided to feature a storyline of one of their characters as developing puerperal psychosis and wham – audiences of 7 million are reached! My Facebook and Twitter feeds are full of references to it and I felt I wanted to comment on it and contribute to it.

In comparison to the years that I and others have worked so very hard at getting the message out to as broad an audience as possible, I confess to almost a roll of the eyes and shake of the head at how they have (potentially) achieved raising awareness of the illness in a matter of a few episodes.  I am not part of the BBC budget and impact – I am individual, so I cannot expect to be as influential. Yet individuals have made massive differences throughout history. So I shall keep on keeping on!

I do not have time to watch any soap operas on a regular basis. I do know that for many people, they enjoy them as a way to escape from their own lives, with characters and some story lines that they can relate to. Over the years they have been instrumental in featuring a wide range of potentially difficult subjects. As an academic, Dorothy Hobson, writes ‘The reason why soap operas can carry such topics as rape, assisted suicide, mental health issues and potentially fatal medical conditions, is that they have the time to tell all aspects of the story and present many different opinions and responses to the issues which are discussed’.

I am impressed so far with how EastEnders are portraying this illness. They have done their homework in consulting with two ladies who suffered first-hand in the last few years. Very well done Eve Canavan (read her story here) and Kathryn Grant  for doing this. This has also given them, and others such as Tracey Robinson on BBC South East, the opportunity to share their own stories in the media. Social media is now making it much easier for women to share their experiences.

Tracey, Eve, Beth and Kathryn at my book launch in September 2015

I know that the charity Mind has been involved and also Action on Puerperal Psychosis.   Look at the page at Mind to read symptoms, etc. here. Hopefully, this will be a boost, especially for the hardworking and excellent team at APP, who have also been working for years to get more research, knowledge and resources out into the wider public.

I wrote a blog at the end of last year describing how I felt – generally, we as a society, are making progress within the area of perinatal mental health. I haven’t been able to keep up with all of the social media feeds at the moment because I am busy preparing new presentations that I have been asked to deliver in coming weeks and months. The British Journal of Midwifery, for example, are holding four study dates  over this year on perinatal mental health that I am part of The British Journal of Health Visiting  have also asked me to speak at one of their events. I have just confirmed with Healthcare Conferences to repeat our now bi-annual conference on perinatal mental health in London on May 4th (let me know if you need a discount).  Up and down the country I am being asked to speak to healthcare professionals who want to make improvements within their localities for perinatal mental health. Increasingly, student Midwifery Societies are asking me to speak at their events. All of this was before the EastEnders episodes!

It will be interesting to see what the longer term impact is of the programme. Think back to the 1990’s – do you remember EastEnders episodes featuring HIV? At the time this was a condition that not much was known about and tended to be associated with the gay community only. This storyline not only showed how that wasn’t the case; it certainly made people talk more about this dreadful disease.

According to a report by “Time to Change” research found that:

• 54% said seeing a well-known character portrayed as having a mental health problem improved their understanding of what it involved.
• 48% said it helped change their understanding of who can develop such problems.
• 25% of those surveyed, who had personally experienced a mental health problem, were encouraged to seek professional help after seeing a character with similar issues.
• 25% of those surveyed, who know someone with a mental health problem, felt prompted to contact a loved one, friend or colleague who has a mental health problem after seeing a storyline on the issue on TV.

These are encouraging figures. If the latest storyline in EastEnders can do this, then I believe that it will have done a great service.

I truly hope that this will be the outcome of the current topic. We must also keep a level perspective in focus – the way the story unfolds for the character Stacey, (played brilliantly by Lacey Turner) is not the same for everyone. I felt she expressed the turmoil and confusion superbly.

Stacey spiralling into puerperal psychosis

In my case, and and in the cases of others whom I know, puerperal psychosis is not necessarily related to bi-polar disorder. Not everyone has the other stresses that are surrounding her character – bereavement, family ‘secrets’ from the past and concerns over the paternity of her baby. I do feel that THEY ARE showing the importance of monitoring someone who already has a history of mental health problems.  There is also the recent research paper that shows

‘One-third of women at high risk experience a postpartum relapse. In women with bipolar disorder, continuation of prophylactic medication during pregnancy appears highly protective for maintaining mood stability postpartum. In women with a history of isolated postpartum psychosis, initiation of prophylaxis immediately after delivery offers the opportunity to minimize the risk of relapse while avoiding in utero medication exposure.’

We do have to keep in mind that EastEnders is a programme made for drama and entertainment first and foremost and education next.

There are always going to be some individuals who are convinced that a mental illness is due to people needing to ‘pull themselves together’. If only it was that easy! I do hope that this storyline does make more people ask questions about their own health and that of their loved ones. I hope that if puerperal psychosis does ever rear its ugly head and a newly delivered mother is acting bizarrely, then those around her will recognise the need for urgent medical help. I want the Government, NHS and commissioners to realise the need to keep mothers and babies together in suitable treatment facilities – not to separate them as my son and I were on a general psychiatric ward. Pre-conceptual counselling for those at risk of perinatal mental illness and preventative treatment should be standard practice, as it is for some physical conditions such as diabetes. I hope that the growing campaign of the 1001 Critical Days  will help too.

I also want to continue to inspire others so that, that even after a dreadful mental illness, like puerperal psychosis, you can get your life back again. I continue to be humbled by the knowledge that my first book has helped a number of women to ‘keep on keeping on’ when they were inclined to take their own life.

What next for women who have experienced a perinatal mental illness and might consider another baby? What about those who might become unexpectedly pregnant? My second book could be what they need! I am thrilled with this latest testimonial from The Smile Group,  based at Macclesfield, written by Natalie Nuttall:-

“Contemplating a second baby after experiencing PND can be a very complex and overwhelming decision. As a charity supporting families affected by perinatal mental illness we are a huge advocate of Elaine’s work and her books feature in our media library and are highly recommended. Elaine has honed in on a very pertinent issue, providing advice and reassurance to help parents when they find themselves at this critical juncture. It’s also a great read for health professionals and a valuable resource for providing insight, facts and personal accounts.”

I continue to look at 2016 with optimism and enthusiasm to ensure that perinatal mental health becomes more widely spoken about and accepted … just as much as physical conditions.

Thank you to the team at EastEnders for making 7 million people aware of puerperal psychosis – I and others shall continue to work towards the remaining 57 million in the UK!

Happy 2016!

Elaine