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Still sharing Perinatal Mental Health resources 20 years on!

Posted by Elaine Hanzak on 11 Jul 2025 / 0 Comment

At the moment, on my LinkedIn profile, I am gratefully receiving congratulation messages on 20 years of being self-employed as a speaker and author on perinatal mental health. So it is great timing to share some of the new resources and information I heard about when I spoke at and chaired this conference by Healthcare Conferences UK on 27^th June.

I opened the day by sharing my story of postnatal illness that developed into puerperal psychosis. I will always be proud of the two books I have written Eyes without Sparkle – a journey through postnatal illness and Another Twinkle in the Eye: Contemplating Another Pregnancy After Perinatal Mental Illness

The older I have become, the more I appreciate the long-term effects of the postnatal period and I thanked delegates for their roles and passion in helping new families.

We heard from Kaat De Backer, Specialist Perinatal Mental Health midwife and NIHR Doctoral Researcher King’s College London, who presented on ‘Learning from MBRRACE-UK: Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care’. It still saddens me so much that women take their own life in the perinatal period. Sadly there is an increase https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/reports/maternal-reports/maternal-report-2020-2022

Kaat shared the research she is doing that looks at the correlation between deaths of new mothers and those that were known to children’s social services. Kaat also stressed the danger of labelling women as poor attenders without looking into why.

Dr Andrew Cairns, Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, spoke on ‘Perinatal Mental Health Crisis: Identification, Crisis Prevention and Support’. He outlined the importance of good communication with all involved; the need for a care plan and aiming at reducing barriers.

Carol King-Stephens, Equality Diversity and Inclusion Lead Midwife Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and Heather McHugh, Equality Diversity and Inclusion Lead Midwife Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust presented on ‘Ensuring equality in access and support, and enhancing engagement with diverse communities’. They mentioned the use of Family Hubs; the importance of referrals and that the identification of those at risk could help in prevention of poor PMH.

Next we had a powerful presentation from Laura Renshaw-Vuillier , Senior Lecturer Bournemouth University, on ‘Supporting women with pre-existing current or past severe mental health conditions: Eating Disorders’. Laura shared her personal story and suggestions for supporting those who need it. She suggested a link at Beating Eating Disorders.

Several of the speakers had mentioned the number of women affected by Domestic Abuse and Violence during the perinatal period. It was very helpful then to listen to Laura Seebohm, Chief Executive WWIN Specialist Domestic Abuse Service talking about ‘Perinatal Mental Health and Domestic Abuse’. She told us that, shockingly, 1 in 5 pregnant women are in such a situation and all women in the perinatal period are 3 times more likely to report domestic abuse in the perinatal period. That does not include those who stay silent.

Links to organisations that can support victim/survivors nationally include:

Home – Women’s Aid – loads of information, tools and a directory of specialist services nationwide
https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/ – a 24/7 helpline for anyone impacted by DA
Worried About Someone’s Relationship? | Findaway – this is a WWIN service, a national helpline, tools and information for family and friends of those who are experiencing domestic abuse.

Dr Ellen Auty, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Clinical Lead of Parent Infant Mental Health Service & Head of Perinatal Psychology Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust outlined ‘A Case Study: Building secure attachments with the Parent-Infant Mental Health Service’. It is vital that we also consider infant mental health in the perinatal period.

Abby Coomber, Psychological Therapist Kent & Medway NHS & Social Care Partnership Trust spoke on ‘Supporting mothers following Birth Trauma: Learning from a Maternal Mental Health Pilot Site’. She stressed that women need to feel listened to and cared for. A very useful guide to trauma informed care can be found at https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BBS-TIC-V8.pdf

It is always so important that we hear about what can be done to also support new fathers. Scott Mair, Director of Fatherhood Solutions spoke on ‘The importance of Paternal Mental Health: Supporting men whose wives or partners are suffering from postnatal depression’. He posed the question ‘Are you asking dads how they are?’. He strongly suggested we watch the new film from Institute of Health Visiting ‘Invisible dad’.

I did watch it – so very, very powerful. It shows so well some of the factors that can really affect a new dad. Please do take time to watch it .. and you may need a tissue.

Our final presentation was from Karen Middleton, Head of Campaigns and Policy Maternal Mental Health Alliance, who addressed ‘Increasing access to treatment for women with common mental health problems during the perinatal period’. Please see their website for a huge amount of resources.

One of the delegates on the conference was a doctor in a neonatal unit. Here are some resources that may be useful in such units:

There are also many support groups on Facebook, for example, Preemie and NICU Family Support and Guidance.

As always the team behind the scenes and who organised the conference were excellent. I do hope they can plan another one soon.

The other event I was proud to support last week was an ‘Away day’ for the team at Home-Start Warrington and Cheshire.

My Husband, Mike Coote, has been supporting their CEO Ellie Harrison for a number of years now through the scheme Cheshire Connect. I have been a ‘fan’ of Home-Start for many years as they support young families in many ways. So it was an easy ‘yes’ when Ellie asked us to present to her team for an ‘Away Day’ – to step away from daily delivery to reflect, reconnect and strengthen how they support families across Warrington and Cheshire. Along with Linda McEnaney we helped to refresh their thinking, build practical tools and focus on staff wellbeing.

So it has been an interesting couple of weeks to be able to contribute and continue to learn about perinatal mental health. I did an earlier blog to acknowledge 20 years since my first book was published.

Although I am not as active as I used to be, my passion and interest remains and I would welcome any other speaking or chairing events.

My focus this summer is for moving nearer to family, so if you know of anyone looking for a character home in Helsby, Cheshire .. please show them this house!

Spending time with granddaughter Sanada is so precious 🙂