Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am so lucky to have given birth to another beaituful baby in March this year, however deciding to have Mia wasn't a decision without fear having suffered severe postnatal depression (PND) with my first baby; Dylan. Delighted to be having another baby, at the same time I felt frightened history would repeat itself.

 Luckily for me, not long before becoming pregnant a perinatal mental health team launched at our local hospital; East Surrey.  They support pregnant women and mothers for up to a year after birth. Their focus is on helping those with mental health issues or a risk of developing them to stay as well as possible during pregnancy and after birth. Due to my previous experience, I was allocated support by staff in this team to check I was feeling okay, discuss concerns and plan together to minimise any risks of PND returning. Having felt so alone and frightened when I developed PND back in 2015, the support of the MAPLE team has been incredibly reassuring. The staff are incredibly caring, emparhetic non judgemental and knowledgeable and are doing amazing work with parents in East Surrey. It is largely thanks to them that 6 months in I am enjoying my baby daughter Mia and her brother; Dylan in the way I had hoped to and this time so far, am experiencing a postnatal period where I have felt well, happy and confident. 

The MAPLE team do a fantastic job and as with so many services have to be creative with stretched budgets so if I can inject even just a little financial help to support them in their work it would mean loads to me to be able to do so. To do this and as a thanks for their amazing support, I am going to get in my wetsuit on 16/9/18 and do 2 laps of The Diver's Cove, Godstone. Open water swimming isn't territory I am very confident or comfortable in! I'm far more at home  in a pool! The temperature is predicted to be between 16-19 degrees (brrrrrrr) and I may be second guessing what else is in the water with me! So this is a big challenge, but such a worthwhile one. I am opting for two laps (1,300 m) for the above reasons and because I had a c section only 6 months ago but if able to carry on to a 3rd I will! 

I would be so grateful if you can support me in this challenge by donating. All money will go to East Surrey MAPLE team.

Thank you so much 🙂

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