My Blog

Postnatal depression and other perinatal mental illnesses are the cruellest of thieves as they steal some of the magic that early parenthood can bring. Watching a new play tonight by Helen Jeffery, ‘The Brink’, reminded me of how vitally important it is that we do make people aware that regardless of the best plans and intentions during pregnancy, the mother can become ill. And with support, treatment and time, you can recover.

About two years ago, Helen contacted me because of my background and shared her desire to write a play based on her own (and others) experiences to reduce the stigma and spread awareness of perinatal mental illness. Tonight, she invited me to The Lantern Theatre in Liverpool to see the result.

Helen and I

Wow! The play took us on the journey of Holly, played superbly by Leanne Martin, through pregnancy and beyond. The humour shone through and helped us almost immediately like and relate to her monologue as she shared her thoughts and experiences. Simple changes and progression  through her timeline impressively showed how her mental health deteriorated. Leanne’s portrayal of Holly’s admission into a psychiatric ward was movingly and effectively portrayed.

Each subtle scene change was hauntingly punctuated by beautiful acoustic guitar and lyrics played by Daniel Taylor.

Helen has captured the distress of postnatal illness so well – and there is a happy ending.  I would strongly recommend this play to healthcare professionals who are involved with  young families and anyone who has a family!

Thank you Helen and all involved in the production for reminding us of why, as a society, we need to work together to support new parents.

The next performance is this Saturday 23rd July in Manchester. Please go and see it – I’m sure you will agree that ‘The Brink’  deserves the standing ovation it received.

Elaine 🙂