Developing peer support for families bereaved by postpartum psychosis On 23rd June 2024, I led APP’s first training day for bereavement peer support volunteers at the Barberry National Centre for Mental Health in Birmingham. We were joined by five new volunteers who want to use their experiences to help support other families who have lost family…
A need for better quality, evidence-based, data-led information The results of the Patient Information Forum (PIF) Maternity Decisions: Induction survey in 2021 were not unexpected but made for sobering reading all the same. Rates of induction in the UK are rising, but some women ranked fear of induction as one of their biggest concerns as…
The MifeMiso trial After a missed or incomplete miscarriage, women usually have the option of conservative (natural), medical or surgical management. The MifeMiso trial, published in 2020, showed that taking misoprostol and mifepristone was more effective for the medical management of miscarriage vs. misoprostol alone. In August 2023, NICE guidelines were updated to direct healthcare…
It’s a startling fact. Most people I’ve trained, or spoken to, during my work with the Luna Foundation assume that young people bereaved as teenagers are at a greater risk. We’ve certainly seen situations where the focus is on supporting older bereaved children and really just ensuring the basic needs of the younger child are…
I’m very pleased to report that Luna Foundation’s project in Kent and Medway has been highly commended in the Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards. The panel was ‘extremely impressed’ at the work Luna has delivered in Kent and Medway to improve the support for children and young people bereaved by suicide and ‘the amount of hard…
New review How to Help Someone After a Miscarriage has been reviewed in the British Journal of Psychiatry’s Bulletin. You can read the review here. Foster’s own difficult experience combined with her commitment to representing the views of the many women who have experienced miscarriage lends a personal and empathetic quality to the advice provided…….
Would you like to play a key role in improving support for young children bereaved by parental suicide? Losing a parent or carer to suicide during childhood can have a devastating and long-term impact on a young person’s mental health. Research has shown that children who are bereaved by parental suicide when aged between two…
Last week I completed the second of two online training sessions for Leukaemia Care‘s new volunteer moderators. Like many organisations, their support group offering on Facebook had traditionally sat with their social media team. As their support groups have grown, so has the need for independent moderation and overview (I’ve written more about this here)….
Last week I was back in London for the first time since Covid lockdowns and baby Jay (who is now two and no longer really a baby). I was there to celebrate Luna Foundation’s first birthday at RSA House. The Luna Foundation Luna was established on 17 March 2022 by Anna Wardley. Anna’s father, Ralph,…
Over 2022 I have been project-managing (and doing the majority of the work on) a new website for Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP). APP is a small charity, struggling after Covid and with the cost of living crisis. They could not afford an expensive agency to work on their new design, structure and content. A…
Leaflets for parents and professionals supporting children bereaved by parental suicide Before Christmas I wrote about Anna Wardley’s Four Thought about parental suicide and the work I am doing for the Luna Foundation. I’m now pleased to say the two new leaflets – one for families and one for professionals are now available on Luna’s…
Open session taking place on March 1st The first of what I hope will be many of the new Miscarriage Association workplace training sessions are now available to book online here. These have been in development for a while now and are based on the research and resource development I did in 2019. Sessions to…
After a parent dies by suicide I would urge you (if you feel able) to listen to Luna Foundation’s Anna Wardley on Four Thought (BBC Sounds). Anna argues for better support for children who lose a parent to suicide, starting her talk in the dark waters of the English Channel as she attempts to swim…
Miscarriage and the workplace resources In 2019 I researched and wrote a hub of resources for the Miscarriage Association on miscarriage and the workplace. I also recorded a podcast at a Women at Work event in Cambridge and represented the Miscarriage Association at a cross-government working group. The Pregnancy Loss Pledge Since then, the Miscarriage…