Perinatal Service users attend event to mark 10 years
Our Specialist Perinatal Service celebrated 10 years of operating with an event in Newquay recently.
Service users, past and present, attended with their families and exchanged inspirational stories. Thanks to the help of the service, mums across Cornwall have received support specific to their needs.
The service team also invited attendees to contribute to a booklet. The ‘Book of Hope’ which will contain stories of hope and recovery and inspiring artwork.
“We are really excited to celebrate 10 years of the service. It is quite momentous. We felt it was important to celebrate in conjunction with people who have used our service. Rather than do a more formal event, we wanted it to be a celebration with the people who have been on that journey with us over the past 10 years.” Ruth Marsden, Perinatal Service Lead
The perinatal service has helped many people, including Zoe.
“I came into the service with 4 mental health conditions. They were depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative identity disorder.
“I already had a lot going on, so they took me on to the mental health service. Ruth assessed me at first and then referred me to Jo, the team psychologist. They were amazing. They stayed with me until before Milo’s second birthday.
“I got given everything. Anything they could give me it was never too much. I ended up having eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy. This was over one of the most difficult times during the first lockdown when no-one knew what they were doing.;
“I could not leave my house. I could not enter a supermarket. I could not do anything because my mental health was so crippling. They really supported me to be able to do everything. To become the mum I wanted to be. That is what I liked. It was always what they could do to help me become the mum I wanted to be.
“I ended up in a wheelchair and they helped me through it all. They helped me process it all. They stuck with me for so long because so much happened during my pregnancy.
“I wanted to come down today to show my support. I also really wanted to contribute to the ‘Book of Hope’ that they are doing. I had so many different things going on. They helped me get to a point where I am now exactly the mum I want to be. I am a foster carer as well. I have managed to do exactly what I wanted to do.”
If you are an expectant or new mum suffering with mental health difficulties, please seek help.