Maternal Mental Health Week: New mum suffering with mental health problem considered ending her own life

Jenny, from Great Harwood, suffered from “uncontrollable feelings” of self-doubt after giving birth to her daughter, Theadora, in May 2022 via c-section.

She had fallen pregnant after an emotional IVF journey and while natural delighted, looks back and realises that it was at that point that her mental state began to change.

A recent survey found that almost one in five women will experience a mental health condition during pregnancy or in the year after birth and Jenny has spoken out as part of Maternal Mental Health Awareness week from May 1 to May 7.

She said: "During pregnancy is when I first noticed my heightened anxiety, my anxiety presents with physical symptoms including sickness, diarrhoea, palpitations, feeling teary and overwhelmed and heightened senses. I’m registered blind and use a guide dog so having to use crutches due to my pelvic pain was an added complication.”

Before becoming a parent Jenny always saw herself as an outgoing confident person, working for the Royal National Institute of Blind People, publicly speaking in parliament and enjoying a hectic social life.

As Jenny’s mental health continued to deteriorate her confidence disappeared and she stopped leaving the house, suffered with intrusive thoughts of Theadora coming to harm, regular panic attacks and wouldn’t leave her with anyone else including her husband.

Following a traumatic incident whilst out pushing the pram, Jenny reached out to a crisis team. During her call, Jenny explained how she had started to plan and think about how she would take her own life as she felt like she couldn’t keep her baby safe anymore. After this call Jenny was admitted to the Ribblemere Mother and Ba by Unit at Chorley Hospital.

She said: "I was terrified to ask for help, especially being a disabled parent I was worried someone was going to take Theadora away from me as they would think I couldn’t cope, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The team reassured me it was okay to need some additional support with my mental health and they would help me to start feeling more myself.”

Ribblemere Mother and Baby Unit and is an eight-bed, inpatient facility providing joint hospital admissions for women and their babies, when a mother is suffering from a mental health problem and the appropriate treatment and care cannot be provided at home. Ribblemere enables treatment and recovery for mothers whilst remaining alongside their babies.

Jenny spent 14 weeks at Ribblemere before being discharged at the start of 2023. During her time Jenny was helped with psychology sessions, occupational therapy sessions, relaxation and anxiety management.

She said : “I want something positive to come out of my experiences. I want to reassure people it is okay to not be okay and to ask for help, you don’t need to wear a mask if you’re struggling. I’ve been given a platform to share my story and if I can help even one person come forward that is a positive for me. I’m excited for my future and I can’t wait to celebrate my beautiful little girl’s first birthday.”