An estimated 35,000 mothers in England and Wales suffer postnatal depression in silence!

In Exmouth, Devon, there are currently NO support groups for families who are dealing with Postnatal Mental Illnesses. Personally, as a result of the local lack of education, expertise and support, I ended up with Severe Postnatal Depression and had to live at a Mother and Baby Unit over 4 hours away from my home in Exmouth, for over 8 weeks.

Due to my horrific experience with Postnatal Depression, I have vowed to provide a service in the local community to support Mums and families. I shall be doing this in a way that shows them that they are not alone, that there is support, that they can learn about what they are dealing with and that there is definitely hope.

Here are some facts regarding Postnatal Depression (one of the Postnatal Mental Illnesses) in the UK:

I am not the only Mum who wants to raise awareness of Postnatal Mental Illness in the Exmouth area. In 2014, a local Mum in Woodbury, publicised her story about Postnatal Depression and how she "went downhill very fast". She ended up not receiving the support she needed due to a shortage of expertise and facilities in our area of East Devon. Read her story here.

After being discharged from the Mother and Baby Unit, I was not seen by a specialist for over 6 weeks. Going from an intensive care unit to nothing in the space of a day was incredibly daunting and did lead to multiple relapses with my Postnatal Depression, that could have been avoided.

I do not want women to suffer in the same way as I did, there is absolutely no need for women to suffer in that way in our local community. Thankfully, Exeter Hospital has obtained funding and now has a temporary 4 bed Mother and Baby Unit that serves the South West, UK. This is a huge achievement and currently I am part of a Facebook group of previous Postnatal Mental Illness sufferers, who are at the forefront of many of the decisions regarding the completed 8 bed Mother and Baby Unit.

Minding Mummy is currently a private Facebook group, where Mums and family members can join in order to receive peer support and give support to others. These Mummies are not alone, they don't need to be afraid, there is hope and they will recover - with the right support and a cuddle along the way. You can see the page link below, however please do answer the questions if you would like to join as it is strictly for suffering or recovered Mums and families:

Minding Mummy Facebook Page

The funding from JustGiving, will enable Minding Mummy to hold weekly support groups for Mums and families currently dealing with Postnatal Mental Illness in the Exmouth area. The money itself will contribute towards: securing the right venue for this support group, enable the purchasing of furniture, comforts and toys for Mums and their babies, enable monthly or bi-weekly professionals to attend the group for further support (breastfeeding support, Mummy pampers, mindfulness workshops, visits from psychiatrists, reflexology workshops and much more), leaflets and marketing in order to spread the word about the group, staffing to support the comforting of Mums and to care for babies while Mums have a break, to enable Mums to attend the group without the financial pressure of needing to pay (although voluntary donations shall be welcomed).

After reading the above with regards to my personal story and my intention to provide the ONLY support group Mums have in this area, please consider donating in order to make this project come true and to give the Mums and families dealing with Postnatal Mental Illnesses the very important support they need. If you would like to know more about my story and 'Minding Mummy', it is available this week in the Exmouth Journal:

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/exmouth-mum-launches-postnatal-support-group-1-5595950

Thank you for your time,

Kelly Taylor