Resources
Motherhood can be a rollercoaster of emotions. It doesn't have to be a lonely ride. Below you will find a list of wonderful support services which you can contact if you need additional help or support.
IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY
If you feel that you are in crisis and you don't feel you can keep yourself safe right now, seek immediate help:
Go to any Accident & Emergency (A&E) department.
Call 999 and ask for an ambulance to take you to A&E.
Ask someone else to call 999 for you or take you to A&E.
If you need urgent support but don't want to go to A&E, you could:
call Samaritans on freephone 116 123 – they're always open and are there to listen
contact your GP surgery and ask for an emergency appointment
contact NHS 111 (England) or NHS Direct 0845 46 47 (Wales)
contact your local crisis team (CRHT), if you're under their care
click the yellow 'I need urgent help' button at the top of this screen for more options
PANDAs Foundation
The PANDAS Foundation there to help, support and advise any parent who is experiencing a perinatal mental illness. They are also here to inform and guide family members, carers, friends and employers as to how they can support someone who is suffering.
Birth Trauma Association
BTA is a charity that supports women who suffer birth trauma – a shorthand term for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after birth. About 30,000 women a year, according to the most recent research, experience birth trauma in the UK. Instead of being joyful and happy, the experience of giving birth has been frightening.
Association for Post Natal Illness
Postnatally depressed women may feel unable to go out of their house, and meeting people may cause them a great deal of stress, therefore contact made on the phone or by e-mail can be ideal. Women often find that talking, or writing to someone, who has had the illness and recovered, allows them to discuss the most distressing symptoms of the illness. The phone and e-mail volunteers also give women hope that they will eventually recover.
Samaritans
Whatever you're going through, a Samaritan will face it with you. They are there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call free on 116 123 or email
Tommy's
Through clinics, research centres, pregnancy information service and support line run by the team of Tommy's midwives, they are here to support parents and families who lose a baby, experience premature birth and to help everyone have a safe and healthy pregnancy.
NCT
The NCT vision is of a world in which no parent is isolated and all parents are supported to build a stronger society.
Their mission is to support parents through the first 1,000 days to have the best possible experience of pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.
Cry-Sis
In 1981 a small group of parents, who were experiencing problems with their crying and sleepless babies, set up a support group. They discovered how important support is and how reassuring it can be to talk to someone. Today that support group has become Cry-sis, the only UK charity offering help and support to parents with babies who cry excessively or have sleeping problems. From modest beginnings Cry-sis has become a well-respected national charity.