My name is Nicola, I am the founder of PND Mummies CIC . I have set up PND Mummies to enable me to provide a centre that will support women with their perinatal mental health. I'll tell you about my 'why' in moment; but first let me share my vision of the centre..

.. a peaceful space where women wanting support with their perinatal mental health can use. We will provide a five-day a week service, so we can truly access those who need us. We will be available on a drop-in basis, but alongside that we will offer scheduled sessions that holistically support new mums mental health; eg mother & baby yoga/art therapy/music therapy/walk & talk sessions/peer support groups. We want to provide the centre at no cost for women, which is why we are fundraising and crowdfunding!

The Royal College of General Practitioners tell us that

So not only is it very likely that you have women in your family/friend circle struggling with perinatal mental illness, it is also likely that half of them are receiving no support at all.

The damage of not supporting women during this time is untold; not only does lack of intervention/support increase the likelihood of mental illness being more difficult to recover from, but there is also increasing evidence that the emotional support given to babies up to the age of two significantly influences their outcomes in later life. For more information see 1001 Critical Days report.

By this point, it won't surprise you to learn that I was 1 in 5! After four missed miscarriages, I achieved a successful pregnancy. By this point I was so emotionally battered that I didn’t recognise my mental health had become so poor. I felt pressure to feel the expected elation of finally having my baby, it took me 11 months to seek help, making my recovery harder than it needed to be. By founding PND Mummies I want to provide something that I would have found invaluable.