My Blog

Do you ever stop doing something that used to be a regular habit? Exercise? A hobby?  In my case it is blogging, as I shall explain! My passion for maternal mental health remains and I would like to share my latest knowledge with you too.

In March I had a few weeks when I felt quite poorly.  I needed antibiotics for an infection and I then had a period of lethargy and tiredness. I seemed to lose my ‘get up and go’. I would wake some mornings and want it to be bedtime!  I am now feeling so much better and it has reminded me about the importance of good health. As my Grandma used to say ‘as long as you have your health, everything else can be sorted’.

As a result my blogging has dried up for a while. I have had some messages asking me if I have disappeared – no I haven’t! Just recuperating and then the last few weeks have been wonderful with some amazing speaking experiences at events I would like to share with you.

A few years ago I spoke at The Samaritans national conference in York. This year they are having regional events only and I was honoured to address some of their volunteers at both the Northwest and Yorkshire/Humberside conferences.  Each time I have been amongst the members of the charity I feel inspired and motivated just to be in their presence. There is a heart warming spirit about people who give up their time so freely to support others. I was fascinated to hear about their ‘support volunteers’. I had assumed that they all were ‘listening volunteers’ who man the phones and give individual support. It was great to hear about the varied roles of those who assist in the charity for a whole range of other tasks, from helping at their charity shops to doing admin. The lady who described her role serving in one of the charity shops had us in stitches when she recalled how she has been asked a few times if she had a certain pair of shoes in a different size! Have you a few hours a week to spare? Perhaps you would be fabulous in a support volunteer role? See the details here

I have also had the privilege to speak to healthcare professionals about postnatal depression in Rotherham, Nottingham, Derby, Bolton and London.  I was pleased to present both my keynote and chair a day on maternal mental health for Healthcare Conferences. It was interesting to hear about the role that Mindfulness is playing in helping mothers with postnatal depression. The team in Oxfordshire are exploring this.

I also heard about a choir that has been formed in South Wales to help mums. Have a look on Twitter for @MaternalHarmony ‘All-women choir, from Bridgend, South Wales, supporting each other and raising awareness of PND / PTSD after child birth. It’s more common then you think. Let’s stop the stigma.’

There is also a relatively new guide out for commissioners to guide them into setting up better perinatal mental health networks. If you work in these services or know of someone who does, I strongly suggest that you encourage them to use this document to help make the systems better. You can download it here.

Another new development has been the initial launch of The Maternal Mental Health Alliance. At long last we have an umbrella organisation for all of us who are passionate about maternal mental health to come together and be involved in ‘awareness, education and action’.

This week I am speaking in Wakefield and then two events in London. I have been asked to research and present on ‘Postnatal Depression and its effects of Breastfeeding’. Another reason that my blogging has suffered is because I have been focussing on putting this together! I have always felt that my experience of breastfeeding (which I loved) was ‘stolen’ from me as I was hospitalised without my son at the time. I now know how cruel that was and also that the abruptness of stopping could have made my mental state even worse!  Therefore if my ‘new’ knowledge and experiences can help guide others to make the correct choice for individuals, then I shall be delighted.  Look at my events page to see where I shall be speaking on this topic.

Meanwhile I have been continuing my coaching and PA role for Stratagem+ Group.

I had a wonderful day with my ‘baby’ who turned 17 at the end of April! Where do the years go?

So I hope my blog has been useful and I hope that this will be start of me ‘getting back into it’.

What have you stopped doing that with a little bit of encouragement, you can do again?

Elaine