Following a traumatic birth, Simon and his wife lost their daughter just 7 hours after she was born.
Simon shares his story of fatherhood, loss and the road to recovery; discussing the effect this experience had on his mental health, and the barriers and challenges he had to face and overcome...
NCT Charity have put together a series of podcasts around ‘Being Dad’.
From dealing with changes in relationships to the pressures and challenges dads face, these podcasts are honest reflections from dads who have been there.
Sharing their own experiences, these dads talk openly about how they felt in the early days of becoming a parent.
Ashleigh experienced a mental breakdown previous to falling pregnant with her first child. Throughout her pregnancy she struggled with anxiety and so was referred to Parents 1st Essex by her community midwife for some extra support.
In her story, Ashleigh talks about mental health stigma and how that affected her.
Alexandra was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after a suffering a medical trauma and sunsequently developed a fear of hospitals. When she fell pregnant, many memories and fears slowly resurfaced and Alexandra began to become very anxious about returning to hospital to give birth.
She eventually sought help and was referred for peer support by her midwife. Alexandra tells her story and explains how her peer supporter helped.
Following the death of her mum, her husband's illness and residual anxiety from her first pregnancy, Bex became increasingly concerned about her mental health during her second pregnancy.
As if this wasn't enough to deal with, there was also a pandemic going on!
With no support system available to her, Bex turned to peer support for help. Read her story to find out what difference it made.
Pregnant and alone through the COVID-19 pandemic, Joya was referred for peer support by her midwife.
Joya found herself struggling emotionally as she prepared for the arrival of their first child. She was unable to attend antenatal classes and her husband and family were in India and unable to travel to the UK.
Joya shares her experiences of being pregnant through lockdown, and tells us about the difference peer support made.
When Ellie was born four years ago, her Mum Hayley had suffered severe post-natal depression following a difficult birth, an experience which was difficult to forget. There were times when Hayley had been in such a low state she had considered suicide.
Hayley was matched up with Annette, a volunteer ‘birth buddy’, who would be there with her every step of the way during pregnancy, birth and the early months after her baby was born.
Emma had experienced depression in the past as well as postnatal depression following the birth of her first baby. When her midwife referred her for peer support, she was starting to feel low again but did not want to take medication.
As is sometimes the case, Emma did not gel with the first volunteer she was matched with. A second volunteer was found however and their relationship flourished.
She was nice, easy to talk to. I should have asked for help earlier. Would have liked the second volunteer from the beginning."
