1 in 6 pregnant women are affected by mental distress.
These mental health issues, if not dealt with, can affect the relationship between mother and child and impact on a child’s long-term development.
This is why they are a priority for Family Action’s innovative Perinatal Support Service which is supporting mothers in four locations across England.
Volunteer befrienders work with us to give hope to new mothers as part of this service. Independent evaluation of our pilot Perinatal project showed that mothers who received this perinatal support were half as likely to experience the onset of depression.
Perinatal means the time around a baby’s birth. During this crucial phase for mother and baby bonding, Family Action can offer regular home-based visits, parenting skills groups and emotional and practical help to pregnant women and mother’s with children aged up to one year old.
This project aids partners and families too, helping them learn about motherhood and understanding the baby’s needs. All our befrienders hold Criminal Records Bureau clearance, and have an understanding of mental distress and some will have personal experience of Perinatal Depression.
Read about the work of one of our volunteer befrienders and watch a video about how we help mums with perinatal depression.
For further information about where our Perinatal Service's are located click
here.
Our Perinatal Project is funded by partners including the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund: Reaching Communities, the Monument Trust and the Henry Smith Charity. You too can make a difference to the work we do with mothers living with post-natal depression. Please
make a donation today.
* Out of the Blue? Mind Motherhood and Depression Report (2006)