Postpartum psychosis (PP) is a severe perinatal mental illness affecting about 1-2 in 1,000 births in the UK each year. APP’s peer support service was set up to support and improve the mental health of women who experience PP and their family members.
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PP severely impacts a woman’s life, affecting social support, relationships, causing long term trauma and often legal/child access issues. Recovery takes on average 3 years and women remain at risk of relapse. Suicide is the leading cause of maternal death in the 12 months following childbirth. Women who have had PP struggle with isolation, anxiety, depression, mania/psychosis relapse, face stigma, and coming to terms with the experience whilst learning to be a mother.
APP’s award-winning national peer support project supports and improves the mental health of women who experience PP and their family members across the UK. We connect women and families with trained volunteers who’ve ‘been there’, providing peer support, information and signposting via: an online peer support forum; in-person/online one-to-one support; and café groups (informal regional social groups where women meet others, manage stigma/self-stigma and offer ongoing mutual support).