My Blog

Sitting at a meeting of the 1001 Critical Days   at the Houses of Parliament yesterday filled me with optimism. The theme was ‘Building Great Britons – Establishing ‘1001 Days Strategies’ at a local level’. On reflection, the strength of the day and of all the progress being made is built upon connections and sharing.

Initially, I would like to say how honoured I feel to be invited to be part of a group of passionate individuals and organisations. To be seated next to professionals like Vivette Glover and Susan Pawlby, both whom have dedicated many years to incredible research, is amazing. I confess still to feeling giddy just to be sitting in ‘the House’. It is an awesome thought, sitting at a bench like this and in a room like this, to wonder at the many people and decisions that have moulded our society over the centuries! Even the ink wells are still in place. I find it so exciting to think that this group may eventually lead to a shift in paradigm for infant and perinatal mental health.

First to present were Dwynwen Stepien and Debby MacCormack from Croydon’s ‘Best Start’  early intervention support. They strongly recommended the need to share information and resources at a local level, developed and motivated by good leadership. They especially encouraged the involvement of professionals in Early Years settings with parents at the heart of all you do. They also said that training in Leadership Change projects across different sectors was invaluable. I loved their comment that it is ‘not always about money – it’s about commitment, passion and drive’. They also emphasised the need to help parents appreciate the value of good attachment and bonding.

If anyone needs a connection for strong and robust Leadership Change training, I have one! I have only been able to sustain my involvement in the field of perinatal mental health through the connection I have as being part-time PA for The Real Leadership Company.  They generously allow me to be flexible with the times I work for them to free me up to attend events like this meeting. Mike Coote,  their MD, has run workshops for NHS teams and many companies over the years. He is also a fantastic executive coach! He also supports me at events where language and communication skills are relevant.

Next was Jane Mischenko, Lead commissioner children & maternity services at NHS Leeds South & East CCG  who, with her colleague, spoke about the Leeds ‘Best Start’ plan. She reported how many organisations across the city had signed up to their Child Friendly scheme. I was thrilled to hear her say that Leeds Rhinos Rugby League club were ‘fantastic ambassadors’. My late partner, Clive Gott, was a massive fan of theirs and did some motivational talks with their academy players. His funeral in February 2011 was actually on their pitch at Headingley and his coffin was carried by two of their players. I had the pleasure of getting to know some of the team at that time.  I am not surprised to know they are involved in this. Jane went on to encourage us all to use the evidence in the Maternity Review  and Wave Trust work to convince commissioners, etc. of the need for this joint approach. She suggests that improvements start with a few committed individuals who then need others to build, grow and maintain services.  Leeds CCGs are going to be holding a ‘Baby week’ in the autumn similar to the one in Brazil working with UNICEF.  We then had more information about infant mental health and a touching story about a baby who had a very poor start in life.  With the correct support, by the time she was 2 years old, the ‘damage’ had been repaired.  The speaker said it is possible that even with a small resource, you can have as much impact as possible. They concluded with the crucial point that partnership is key and for those partners to work together to maximise existing resources.

The next speaker was Chris Cuthbert. I remember meeting him a couple of years ago at a Marce Society event when he was part of NSPCC and was involved in the excellent ‘All Babies count’ report.  He is now with The Big Lottery Fund.  Perhaps we now have a clear influencer in helping to give out funds as opposed to collecting! He outlined the 10 year investment by The Big Lottery fund along the lines of ‘it takes a whole village to raise a child’. They are looking at the main areas of diet and nutrition; social and emotional development; language and communication.  These are all at the heart of the 1001 Critical Days too. Chris also emphasised the need for shared understanding, service design, delivery, spaces, language and learning. He mentioned a language scheme that I hadn’t heard of before about ‘serve and return’ based on the Frame Works Institute.  He told us about three projects that are ongoing research, resource and development for us to get involved with. Also they are great to quote as evidence for why all this preventative work with families and infants is so worthwhile.  They are ‘Born in Bradford’ , Preventonomics   and A Better Start .  Chris also referred to the Blackpool NSPCC scheme as excellent practice. As I was born a few miles away from there and spent my childhood on the Fylde coast, it was another connection! In fact, Mandie Sunderland  who was nursing officer at Blackpool Victoria hospital for a number of years, asked me to give my first talk back in 2000 to 700 nurses in London. That talk was one that inspired my book.  Look what one connection can lead to!

Our final presentation was from Anthoulla Koutsoudi from the Wave Trust – a pioneering community. Their focus is upon reducing child maltreatment by preventative methods to break inter-generational cycles. She spoke about the need for us all as a society to encourage a cultural change in the wider community. One of the symptoms of my severe postnatal illness and then into puerperal psychosis was the urge to want to harm my beloved baby. Fortunately, I did have a shred of rational thought to stop me, although I was found shaking him. As a result he was placed on the ‘at-risk’ register. It was a shock for us all at the time yet this response was needed.  Therefore I do have insight into how mental illness can lead to a baby being harmed. We MUST work together to stop it. Again, the skills of good bonding and attachment were highlighted. A topic new to me was ‘disorganised attachment’.

The final part of the meeting consisted of questions from the attendees. One of my fellow ‘Experts with lived experience’ is the wonderful Kathryn de Vecchi. She was one of the main contacts with  Eve Canavan  to advise EastEnders with their storyline on puerperal psychosis.  Kathryn was unable to attend so I asked a question on her behalf:

‘How can we ensure that commissioners have the right incentives to make sure that decisions are made for the best long term interests of children and families? That is, how can we bring forward /bring to mind the long term benefits of policies (and the huge long term costs of “doing nothing”)?

Economists speak of “time preference /discount rates” but really it’s just about trying to make decision makers understand AND ACT on the bigger/longer term picture.’

That’s the back of my head!

I confess to being rather awe-struck to actually stand up and ask a question in this setting! I am aware that many people wish to speak and there is a need for brevity. Sometimes, this can be a challenge for me! As I was feeling impressed with all that I had heard, I did express that I felt the last 12 months had seen a great rise in momentum and progress in this area and thanked the speakers. I asked Kathryn’s question (Tim Loughton MP, who was the chair, commented that this was a good question) and, as I sat down, I was aware that my heart was beating loudly and my hand was shaking as I attempted to write some notes! For those of you who may think I am always a confident speaker, I too can still feel some nervous energy!

The suggested answers included:

• Use the evidence from the Maternal Review and the research projects above
• Push for involvement of families and Early Years
• Continue conversations of the need for the 1001 Days recommendations
• Keep up to speed on what is happening and keep them informed.

I also mentioned that as individuals in the room, perhaps we had a responsibility to lead by example? I said that I am meeting my own MP, Graham Evans, next week and encouraged others to do the same.

It was also a wonderful opportunity to network with like-minded people and meet up with people who have become and are becoming friends, for example like Raja, Andy and Antonella as pictured above. I have arranged to meet up with some others to get to know them better. We all acknowledge the huge inspirational and facilitating role that Clair Rees  has – thank you Clair!

I left feeling a wave of hope and optimism. On the back cover of my first book ‘Eyes without Sparkle – a journey though postnatal illness‘ (CRC Press 2005) , I wrote ‘ you are not alone’ . When I was ill, in some ways I felt I was. No matter how much love and care is around you, there is massive therapy in knowing that others have been on the same journey as you. Even though I remain an individual in all of this, I certainly do not feel alone. It feels like we are a growing force and increasingly loud voice. We are building stronger connections and learning to share more. Together we can all play our part in improving the basis of the 1001 Critical Days. This will include perinatal and infant mental health.

Since the meeting yesterday even more connections and sharing have happened due to all the messages on Social Media! Let’s keep them coming!

This afternoon I shall share this knowledge at my own CCG  meeting and hopefully inspire my local community to stand up and take more notice.

Clive used to run marathons. When asked how did he run 26 miles his reply was that he didn’t – he ran a mile 26 times, by putting one foot in front of the other.

What can and will you do? Of course we want and need to have more funding released. In the meantime, focus on what you CAN do with what you have. Let’s keep on keeping on – one step at a time.

Elaine 🙂