APP is a collaborative project run by women who have experienced Post Partum Psychosis, specialist health professionals and academic experts from Birmingham and Cardiff Universities. Our project is based within the Mood Disorders Research Group in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. The Peer Support network helps women and families affected by PP feel understood, supported and less isolated. Their workshops, conferences and arts events enable women to articulate their experience of PP and develop information to help other women and families. They facilitate ground-breaking research into the causes of PP at the universities of Birmingham and Cardiff and produce ‘Insider Guides’ and other expert literature to support affected families and health professionals caring for those with PP. They
- Develop leaflets and web resources for women, their families and health professionals
- Have an on-line peer support forum where women and their families can talk to others who have experienced PP
- Offer a one-to-one peer support service where women and their partners can contact others who have been through PP
- Run events and workshops
- Offer signposting to appropriate resources or sources of support
- Field requests for specialist advice to our panel of experts
- Offer a free specialist second opinion psychiatry service at Cardiff University to women who require expert advice about treatment, recovery or managing further pregnancies
- Advertise opportunities to take part in research studies into PP
- Conduct research and talk to members about research areas of importance to them
- Report to members on the most recent research from around the world
- Provide advice and resources to members who would like to raise awareness or hold fundraising events in their local community
- Work with other organisations to help them provide accurate information about PP
- Respond to media requests and put journalists in touch with women who have experienced PP via our media panel
APP is the largest network of women with postpartum psychosis (PP) in the world which enables high quality research to be conducted that otherwise would be impossible. APP works with Cardiff and Worcester University to conduct research into the causes, management and experience of Post Partum Psychosis. They also advertise other studies into PP from research groups around the world. We encourage communication between academic researchers and those with lived experience of PP. You will find information about our:
- Molecular genetic studies
- Clinical studies
- !uestionnaire based research
- In-depth interview studies and
- Service-user led research.
CAMPAIGNS
PPP promote greater public awareness of postpartum psychosis, work to address stigma and misinformation, and campaign for improved perinatal mental health services. Their campaigning work is underpinned by research and strong partnerships between women and families who have experienced postpartum psychosis, specialist health professionals and academic experts. APP is proud to be a founder member of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance and work locally and nationally to support NHS service development. Their current campaigns include:
- Help and support during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Campaigning for Mother and Baby Units
- Our call for targeted awareness campaigns to support Black and Asian women in response to inequalities in maternal mental health
- Call for access to specialist training in postpartum psychosis and perinatal mental health for all frontline professionals working with women and families in the perinatal period
- Call for access to specialist postpartum psychosis peer support for women in all regions of the UK
Action of Postpartum Psychosis have a number of Experts by Experience available to talk with health professionals at conferences and events - all women who have themselves experienced and recovered from postpartum psychosis (PP). Their Experts by Experience can:
- Share their personal experiences of PP
- Give talks and training to your health professionals, describing their symptoms, experience of treatment and recovery, what worked well for them and what did not, the impact on their relationship with their baby, family and friends
- Share the experience gained from supporting others. All of our experts have the breadth of knowledge that comes from supporting many other women and families with the condition (online, via email and in-person) and engaging with the health professionals in their area.
APP's Experts are robustly supported by APP. They have access to APP’s PP academic and clinical experts with international reputation, ensuring that they are well-informed and have up-to-date knowledge. Their experts by experience are supported by robust safeguarding protocols and quality assurance measures within the organisation.
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Action of Postpartum Psychosis (APP) aims is to ensure all women affected by postpartum psychosis in the UK have access to a Mother and Baby Unit - essential places of care for new mums experiencing severe postnatal mental illness. Their campaigning work is underpinned by research and strong partnerships between women and families who have experienced postpartum psychosis, specialist health professionals and academic experts. APP is proud to be a founder member of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance and work locally and nationally to support NHS service development.
What is a Mother and Baby Unit?
A Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) is a specialist inpatient treatment unit where mothers with mental illness are admitted with their babies. MBUs include multidisciplinary teams of experts able to care for the physical and emotional needs of new mothers. They have specialist knowledge of the issues surrounding medication management in pregnancy and the postnatal period; specialist facilities appropriate for new mothers and babies; support breastfeeding, parenting skills; and bonding at this critical time in the developing mother-infant relationship. Access to a MBU is essential for women with postpartum psychosis. APP's research shows that women who receive care for postpartum psychosis in MBUs feel more satisfied with the care they receive, feel safer, feel more confident in the knowledge of the staff, recover more quickly and feel more confident with their baby when they go home.
APP has been campaigning for more Mother and Baby Units in the UK for over 10 years. Over the past 4 years, NHS England has invested in 4 new units, and far fewer women in England with postpartum psychosis are now separated from their baby during treatment. However, many parts of the UK do not have MBUs. Mums and babies are forced to travel miles for treatment or mums can end up on an adult psychiatric ward without their babies and without specialist care. The first unit in South Wales opened in April 2021. But there’s still no Mother and Baby Unit for women in North Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland or Northern Scotland.
APP is working hard to continue to campaign for more Mother and Baby Units - essential places of care for new mums experiencing severe mental illness and their babies. We must support the existence of current units, ensuring the public and policymakers understand and value these facilities. We must ensure that all units are as fully resourced as the new units, with excellent training, multidisciplinary professional teams, and access to peer support. They are collecting stories of women (and partners and grandparents) who did not receive care in an MBU. Please share your story with us - or if you have received care in both an MBU and General Unit.
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Contact Person / Email
app@app-network.org
APP’s peer support service connects you with people who have been there. We can support you if you’ve had postpartum psychosis (PP), or experienced high mood or mania after the birth of your child, or if you are a partner or family member of someone who experienced PP. They know that discharge from hospital, from a Mother and Baby Unit or from other treatment is usually only the beginning of a longer journey to recovery. There are different ways for you to get support, depending on what feels most comfortable for you.
- Online peer support forum: read other people’s posts or write your own for support from our community of members and volunteers.
- One to one support: access one to one peer support via private message, email, video call, or, in some parts of the country, meet a peer supporter in person.
- Regional Café groups: lived experience café groups where women with PP, and their partners and family members, can meet together informally. There are currently 8 groups across the UK, in South and North Wales, Sussex and Hampshire, Yorkshire, North East, Lancashire and Cumbria, Birmingham and London. Café groups meet both online on Zoom and in person, so if you can’t get to a real one, you can always join a group for a cuppa online
People often tell us they have never met or talked to anyone else who has experienced PP. Myths and misunderstandings about the illness can make it harder to talk to wider family, friends or other new mums about what happened.You can talk to us, whether you are newly recovering, considering another baby, want to talk about parenting after PP, or even if you had PP many years ago and would just like to talk, ask questions, or meet others. Our peer support volunteers are mainly women who are recovered from PP, but we have partners, grandparents, and other family members too. They have been there and understand something of what you have been through. They can also provide peer support and/or information if you are at high risk of postpartum psychosis (PP), because you are pregnant and have bipolar disorder.
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Contact Person / Email
app@app-network.org
The Peer Support Network Peer is a support service for women and partners to talk through online support services. The project aims to reduce the sense of isolation experienced following PP, and improve access to information and support for women, their partners and family.
Acrtion for Postpartum Psychosis offer a training package in postpartum psychosis (PP) and Severe Mental Illness (SMI) in the perinatal period, delivered by a Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist OR Senior academic, AND one of APP’s Experts by Experience. By utilising clinical experience, cutting-edge research, and the real experiences of affected women and families, the course will up-skill the workforce, developing expertise and empathetic understanding. Learning objectives will address domains in the PMH competency framework, with a specific focus on the risk areas of SMI and postpartum psychosis. The one-day training course is suitable for all professionals working with women and families in pregnancy and the perinatal period including:
- Psychiatrists
- Midwives
- Health Visitors
- GPs
- Obstetricians
- Mental Health Nurses
- Psychologists
- IAPT workers
- Psychotherapists
- Social Workers and
- Acute & Emergency staff.
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) has compiled information for: pregnant women with a history of postpartum psychosis / bipolar; women and families in crisis or who are developing psychosis; and for those recovering from PP at this time. This is a fast-moving situation. Health trusts/boards across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are continuing to make changes to their services.
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The Action for Postpartum Psychosis Online Peer Support Forum provides a space for people to read other people’s posts or write your own for support from their community of members and volunteers. The PPTalk community provides an option to connect with others who have been affected by Postpartum Psychosis (PP). One can:
- Ask questions
- Share experiences
- Find out more about Postpartum Psychosis.
This community is open to anyone who has been affected by PP – if you are recovering, if you are a partner, family member, or friend who has been affected by PP, or if you had PP many years ago. They respectfully ask journalists, researchers & health professionals not to post here. This community is moderated by Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) & by APP volunteers – all who have personal experience of PP. They cannot offer urgent crisis support.
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The Cardiff University Psychiatry Service (CUPS) offers second opinion or consultation to patients, with the aim of assisting and advising clinicians and their patients in diagnosis and management. Requests for a second opinion must be made by the doctor in charge of the care of an individual’s mental health.
Address
National Centre for Mental Health: Cardiff University Hadyn Ellis Building Maindy Road Cardiff CF24 4HQ
Organisation
Address: c/o Birmingham Mother & Baby Unit The Barberry National Centre for Mental Health 25 Vincent Drive Birmingham, B15 2FG
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Postal Address: C/o Baldwins, 10-11 St James Court, Friar Gate, Derby, DE1 1BT
Email: app@app-network.org
