Earlier this year, we were approached by the Shropshire Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team, who were really excited to partner with us.
The partnership was to deliver a workshop to tie in with Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week (29th April – 5th May).
Here at Designs in Mind we know that Perinatal Mental Health is a really important issue – both nationally and locally within our community. Perinatal Mental Health challenges affect at least 1 in 5 women, and we have seen how there is a severe lack of services locally to many demographics, including new parents
As a result of this we were thrilled to run a Perinatal Mental Health Arts workshop through partnering with the Shropshire Specialist Perinatal Community Mental Health Team. The workshop was advertised through the team who have in-depth knowledge of the local community and already knew a number of mothers who would benefit from attending.
Based on the incredible results of this one-off workshop, we knew that we wanted to be able to provide more Arts for Perinatal Mental Health Workshops in the future as there is a clear need for this in our local community.
We are delighted to say that we have been funded by the Vibrant Shropshire: a Cultural Compact Grant Scheme as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to provide more Arts for Perinatal Mental Health Workshops in the near future.
Watch this space!
Thanks to Charlotte, our Fundraising whizz, for sharing her words;
‘The UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.’
Our Product Lead, Rosie, shared how our perinatal workshop initially came about:
Following 2 babies and having gone through her own perinatal journey, Rosie knew that she wanted to work towards exploring the opportunity to support other women who experience the challenges of perinatal depression. Rosie had witnessed first-hand that there is a lack of support for this area of mental health and being part of an organisation such as Design in Mind felt like the right place to begin to extend some support locally.
‘I had overwhelming intrusive thoughts and I felt incredibly isolated during my pregnancy and post-natal time with my second baby. I really struggled with low moods and getting out the house was tough. These are some of the common symptoms of perinatal depression, although it can be different for each individual who experiences it. It was difficult and frightening experience, especially looking back and remembering the place I was in, although I’m grateful to be in a very positive place now.’
The idea of providing some sort of support in this area continued to grow through a conversation between Rosie and her friend who works for the perinatal mental health team for Shropshire. It turned out to be fortuitous timing, and there was available funds and an opportunity to collaborate to offer a workshop – this was to become an initial pilot for creative workshops for woman struggling with perinatal mental health. The workshop was held in the Memorial Hall in Oswestry, which is a great venue with plenty of room and accessibility.
‘It was such a lovely workshop! The turnout was successful, and the Mums that came along shared wonderful feedback. Sarah from the Perinatal Mental Health Team had arranged to have support on hand for each mother and baby, so they were able to take part in the activity. Everyone had their hands free to create artwork and take this time for themselves in a supportive, encouraging environment. We produced block printed tote bags that everyone could take home with them at the end. It was such a beautiful workshop, and we saw so much potential and benefit of growing this into something bigger.
Our
ways of life have changed and come a long way from the tighter communities that there once were. Perhaps there is less connection in general and life can be fast paced and full of its own challenges. There is a classic saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, however modern life and the way we live now is so different to our ancestors and perhaps in some cases we have lost this circle of support. This is one of the reasons that offering these workshops felt important. Having some supported time for oneself, along with being in a safe space with the opportunity to build a network could be a lifeline for some people.
There can be huge amount of pressure to live up to being ‘maternal’ as a mother, I know for me this added to the guilt I had, from feeling a certain way during the times when I was struggling. There is this expectation on woman to be a ‘supermum’ in which you should be able to do all the things you used to do before having children, balancing a job, whilst rearing your babies. This can be unachievable at times. We are only human after all.”
Thanks to Rosie for bravely sharing her motherhood journey, with us and for using your own lived experience to spearhead this important project. We are all so excited to support the Perinatal mental health project and hope that we can bring joy and support to mothers on their perinatal mental health journey.
Blog Co-Written by Willow,Member & Social Media Coordinator, with Charlotte & Rosie.