Doula UK is part of the The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA), a coalition of UK organisations with a shared vision to see all women across the UK get consistent, accessible and quality care and support for their mental health during pregnancy and in the year after giving birth.
Leila Baker, Doula UK’s Head of Membership and Chair of the Diversity panel recently attended the 2018 Maternal Mental Health Conference – where the theme was Diversity – understanding and reaching the missing families
Today, on World Mental Health Day, Leila shares her notes from that important conference. Further details about the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, biographies of the speakers and copies of the presentations are available here.
Introduction – Dr Alain Gregoire
o 1984 Suicide linked with maternal death. Before that there were no pressing issues in Maternal Mental Health care because there was no maternal mental health care!
The UK is leading the development of MMH research and support
Social inequalities in maternal mental health and barriers to accessing support for under-represented and marginalised women
o Redshaw & Henderson study 2013 highlighted problems caused by unconscious bias, lack of cultural awareness and stereotyping.
o Studies:
- Women with learning disabilities 2017
- Listening to Parents NPEU 2018
Mothers with multiple disadvantages: the impact of volunteer and peer support on emotional wellbeing
o Women in the study had an average of 4.2 issues. Peer support model. Could be only contact for woman. Active listening, non-judgemental support
Young mother’s mental health in the FNP Rapid Cycle testing ADAPT project
o Family nurse partnership. Conception to 2 years. Started in 2016 with 10 pilot sites.
Have now added in MH information and support
Antenatal anxiety, feminism and identity – a live experience from a second generation British Asian
o Homelife expectations and norms. Getting married and having children. High anxiety levels. “If not contributing to society then you have no value”. Matrescence
Migration, motherhood and mental health
o 58% of live births in London are to woman born outside of the UK. Higher instances of somatisation in refugees
A decade of delivering community-based PND support services to South Asian mothers in Birmingham – experiential lessons
o Te ara tuatahi – First steps. 70% of the staff have lived experience of MH issues. Most marginalised parents. 5% most deprived ward in the country. Rigidity of mainstream services – e.g if a client cannot leave house for 40 days.
Video: Perinatal positivity
o Animated film
The contribution of digital technology in tackling inequalities
o Best beginnings – digital media app with videos
Military mothers and military babies – the impact of the deployment cycle on the environment of relationships
o We don’t know how many children there are in military families. Communicating psychological presence can be done with photos and storytelling
My mental health and me – insights of a military mother
o No provision for MH trauma in military families other than PTSD
No place to turn – considering the mental health needs of birth mothers who experience recurrent care proceedings
o Disenfranchised grief – not deserved. Loss of identity as a mother. Lancaster website. Recurrent care proceedings. Video of positive stories
“Keeping her in mind” – The mental health needs of women who experience the repeat removals of children from their care. The Pause model and examples from practice
o ACE score of 4+ is critical in methodology. Determining poor outcomes in adult life.
53% of sexual abuse in recurrent care proceedings Complex trauma. 54% experienced out of home care, many in multiple short term placements.
Members, please keep an eye on your Doula UK e-News for details on an upcoming podcast series, featuring an episode on Perinatal Mental Health.
Lina Duncan says
That’s interesting to hear – thanks for taking notes and feeding back, Leila.