Embracing support for postnatal depression
WELCOME
The Cedar House Support Group is for mothers experiencing ante and postnatal depression. We offer support to mothers by holding free weekly group therapy sessions. The groups provide a safe and supportive environment where mothers can get together with others who may be feeling similar to themselves. The groups are facilitated by our specialist postnatal depression counsellor, Liz Wise who has extensive experience in facilitating groups, providing counselling and has personal experience of the illness.
We have been running groups in Surrey since 2004 and now also facilitate groups in South London. Each group provides creche facilities and a partners/family evening is held each term to offer extended support. This helps their recovery by normalising feelings and reducing the sense of isolation that postnatal depression can bring.
Having a baby is usually a positive experience, society expects parents to feel happy and fulfilled as we welcome a new life into our world. Yet parents have a major readjustment to deal with; the loss of independence, changes in financial status and sometimes changes in relationships. Although we may feel prepared for these changes, having a baby can still be a shock for many parents.
It is perfectly normal to feel emotional, vulnerable and sensitive after your baby is born. Some mothers may feel confused about their feelings - that they should be feeling overjoyed and instantly in love with their baby. This is not always the case; there are understandable reasons for perhaps feeling not like that. For example you may have had a difficult labour and/or birth, which can leave you feeling exhausted and possibly unfulfilled of prior expectations you had.
Don’t forget we are not taught how to be mothers; it is something we need to learn for ourselves and at this time of our lives we sometimes need to be mothered and nurtured ourselves.
We are still continuing to run our weekly support groups via online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For further details regarding either of these services please contact Liz Wise on....
07773 283556
Going Dry for January
Please Support Our wonderful Liz wise and her husband John.
This year has been very tough for everyone and especially for the mums with PND that have been attending the groups.
As you know
The Cedar House Support Group Charity
receives no funding from the NHS or government and relies solely on fundraising and donations.
This year we haven't been able to hold any fundraising events so my husband John and I are going dry for January to raise funds for the groups. We would welcome your support to be able to continue to support families who attend our groups.
John and Liz raised a fabulous
£2150
during January
A HUGE WELL DONE AND THANKS TO BOTH LIZ AND JOHN AND TO ALL OF THOSE WHO KINDLY DONATED
YOU CAN STILL DONATE VIA THEIR JUSTGIVING LINK BELOW
http://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lizandjohn2021
#fundraiser #postnatal #depression #maternalmentalhealth #dryjanuary
The Cedar House Support Group Full Service Review
The Cedar House Support Group is for women who are experiencing postnatal depression and offers weekly support groups facilitated by Liz Wise. Liz is a trained counsellor specialising in PND counselling, with many years’ experience and personal experience of the illness herself. The groups provide a safe and supportive environment where mothers can get together with others who may be feeling similar to themselves and provides a relaxed, informal and totally confidential environment in which to talk.
The Cedar House Support Group was set up through funding from a client of Liz’s, through her counselling service, who was receiving treatment for PND. The charity has been running groups in London and Surrey, where there is need alongside appropriate facilities, for 15 years. Groups are delivered weekly during term time and a free creche facility is always offered.
Feedback is gathered from the mothers attending the groups through feedback forms at the end of each term and feedback is positive; the charity has also experienced no serious incidents. The data and feedback collected is not analysed or reviewed, resulting in a lack of robust evidence of the success of the service delivered or to expand on to make recommendations to / for maternal mental health services.
We have been awarded funding to carry out a full service review and are taking this opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness, impact and success of the service delivered by The Cedar House Support Group. We believe our service model is particularly successful, in improving mothers mental health and in being a cost effective and easily replicable model.
One of the methods we intend to use is to survey mums who have experienced post natal depression but NOT been through our particular service or any other group talking therapy. This will be via a short questionnaire, to be completed online and will be completely confidential.
If you are willing to take part or have any questions about the survey, please email Ruth Brownlow at chairchsg@gmail.com. We intend to send out the survey in early spring 2020.
We appreciate revisiting the experience of having post natal depression, however lightly, can bring back thoughts and feelings that may be difficult to deal with. We wish to make aware anyone wishing to assist with this survey that Liz Wise will be available to talk in confidence, about any issues that may arise.
Yours,
Ruth Brownlow
Trustee of The Cedar House Support Group
http://www.cedarhousesupportgroup.com
Please Support us by supporting the NSPCC'S campaign Fair Start........
Up to 1 in 5 mums and 1 in 10 dads in the UK experience mental health issues during pregnancy and after birth and, right now, many are not receiving the support they need. The NSPCC’s Fight for a Fair Start campaign is demanding perinatal mental health support for every mum, so that every baby and every family gets a fair start. Please support the campaign by signing the petition:
The NSPCC are also looking for parents – both mums and dads - who are willing to share their story about being affected by mental health issues during pregnancy and after birth. These would be used to support the campaign in a variety of ways depending on what you feel comfortable with, but could include social media, website, news articles, speaking at events etc. Please contact Jenny Andrews if you are interested.
We’re supporting the @nspcc’s Fight for a Fair Start campaign. Please sign the petition to ensure that all parents can access the perinatal mental health support they need at the right time. #FairStart www.nspcc.org.uk/fair-start
