Why Beyond Birth is an answer to the perinatal mental health problems we are seeing worldwide
Beyond Birth aims to bridge gap between families and overstretched, underfunded public services as pandemic contributes to new parents’ mental health decline New parents’ mental health is suffering and anxiety is at an all-time high as coronavirus hits families hard. Millions are now experiencing poor mental health because of the effects of social distancing, lockdown and the over-consumption of stress-inducing media reports, and thousands are falling through the cracks because of fragmented and poorly funded social services.
This pandemic needs to be treated as the mental health crisis it is. Although we all thought that fear of getting sick would be the biggest cause of stress, it’s not: the stress of financial uncertainty and hardship, loneliness and the loss of physical and emotional support is. Parenting in particular has never been so lonely and isolating and as we enter Lockdown 2.0 and anxiety around the pandemic deepens, it’s clear that parents are struggling and there isn’t the help available that they desperately need.
Enter Beyond Birth – a programme designed to bridge the support gap between no help and waiting to get help. This guide book, course, online group and class is full of tips, tools and techniques for parents to help themselves and avoid unraveling. It is for anyone and everyone who is and isn’t already struggling with their mental health.
Beyond Birth focuses on teaching the vital life skill that is protecting, preventing and preserving our mental state. The Beyond Birth guide book and online groups take parents through every area of becoming a new parent and what they can do to help them cope when things are tough. It covers emotions, connection, sleep, stress, relationships, identity and much more.
Specialist therapies and counseling are fantastic, but may not be realistic or accessible for everybody. Sadly, the system is unable to support thousands of people and their children and the number of cases are growing daily. Beyond Birth promotes and supports parents with their mental wellbeing by teaching them how to look after themselves from pregnancy and beyond. Parents always put their child or children's emotional and physical needs before their own. Beyond Birth teaches them how to take care of themselves and reconnect with those around them, via online or in-person groups by giving them access to a range of materials such as simple mindfulness and visualisation audios, guided relaxation and breathing techniques, reflective Q&As, self-care techniques, journaling prompts, poetry, an online Facebook community, affirmations, workbooks, resources, dads and partners tips and signposting, experts’ tips, online expert Q&As and free downloads.
Beyond Birth aims to promote good mental health and wellbeing for new parents by bringing the programme to communities locally and globally through trained practitioners who already teach classes such as baby massage and baby yoga. The group leaders will teach everything that is in the book to parents without them having to read it – they can experience it instead. Each week a new topic is introduced and the group takes part in exercises and activities. Everyone leaves feeling calm, refreshed and positive. Sophie trains practitioners so that they have and know absolutely everything they need to in order to support parents and feel confident holding space for them.
Parents are models for their children so it’s really important that we talk about and demonstrate our ability to manage difficult things in life to reduce the stigma around mental health for future generations. Dealing with these uncomfortable, unsettling feelings now will reduce mental health problems in the months and even years following the pandemic. Beyond Birth helps parents parent themselves so they can be more consciously aware and balanced for their children and better equipped to weather the Covid-19 storm and beyond.
About Sophie Burch
After 15 years working in the birth and baby world, having experienced mental health issues herself as a mother to four children, and witnessing her partner struggle as well as hundreds of her clients, Sophie decided that she had to listen, look at what was right in front of her and take action. She believes we are missing a trick if we are not putting some preventative work into preparing for a baby on a mental level.
Sophie is the co-creator of a Mindfulness for New Mothers digital pack, a Hypno-CBT (HCBT) therapist, a Hypnobirthing Practitioner with 12+ years’ experience, an International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM) Teacher, an International Federation of Aromatherapists (IFA) qualified Aromatherapist, a Holistic and Pregnancy Massage therapist and Usui Reiki therapist. She is fully accredited by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), General Hypnotherapy Registered by the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council (GHRsc).
Sophie has collaborated with some very inspiring people in the birthing world, such as Hollie de Cruz (her client and now colleague, alias @theyesmummum and co-founder of the Calm Birth School), and Suzy Ashworth (Calm Birth School, Mindset Coach and all-round genius mentor). She’s an ambassador for Make Birth Better and supports Pandas Perinatal Mental Health Charity. She has created and recorded content for the brilliant Nourish App which helps mums with their mental and physical wellbeing and writes for magazines such as the new mental wellbeing Motherdom Mag.
Sophie has recorded radio shows and podcasts and loves to talk about what she’s most passionate about – women's mental health and the perinatal period.
About new parents’ mental health
Parents who before the pandemic had no mental health issues are now being pushed to their absolute limits.As the boundaries between work and home life become increasingly blurred, they’re feeling helpless in being unable to meet their own and their children’s basic needs.
During lockdown six in 10 new parents said they had significant concerns about their mental health. Those parents are now unable to get the help they desperately need and those issues are becoming more complex as they wait for months to access specialist services that may not be specialised in perinatal mental health or “the right fit” for them. So they feel cheated and let down by the overstretched systems currently in place.
”Babies in lockdown” report by Best Beginnings, Home Start and The Parent-Infant Foundation has revealed that 61% of new parents have significant concerns.
Full report here: https://babiesinlockdown.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/babies_in_lockdown_executive_summary.pdf
- Half of pregnant women who relied on mental health support said their help stopped during Covid-19. Make Birth Better study via The Independent. Campaign group Make Birth Better polled 458 pregnant women and found that half of those who were relying on support from a specialist mental health midwife had seen their help stopped.
- In the first lockdown, 81% of parents in the UK said their mental health was affected according to the Motherdom Surveys. The effects of Covid-19 have been widespread but, with the NHS stretched and restrictions tight, new parents have fallen by the wayside. Pregnant women have been the pandemic’s hidden victims, they feel completely alone. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/felt-completely-alone-pregnant-women-have-pandemics-hidden/
- New parents have been left "socially isolated" during lockdown and unaware of how to get help, the National Childbirth Trust has claimed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53368246
- Parents are feeling unprepared as Covid-19 prevents them from creating a support network of other parents and antenatal classes. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-53592319
- Mothers having babies during lockdown are dealing with this life-changing event without the support of their families, friends or wider professional network. https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/what-if-village-closed PND has almost triple during lockdown https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/postnatal-depression-pregnancy-mothers-lockdown-study-anxiety-stress-maternal-a9577186.html
- A perinatal mental health charity has said it's seen demand for support amongst men rise by 10% during the coronavirus pandemic. https://www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/im-pregnant/pregnancy-news-and-blogs/dads-and-partners-can-also-become-depressed-during-pregnancy
- Lockdown babies report: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/lockdown-babies/
- Some communities have been at greater risk of loneliness than others such parents with young children https://www.redcross.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/we-speak-up-for-change/life-after-lockdown-tackling-loneliness
- Loneliness affects our mental health https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/coronavirus/loneliness-during-coronavirus
- Research shows that chronic loneliness can have a significant impact on your overall health, including your brain health. Some studies even suggest that there may be a link between loneliness and an increased risk for developing dementia and Alzheimer's. https://www.cigna.com/individuals-families/health-wellness/chronic-loneliness#:~:text=Research%20shows%20that%20chronic%20loneliness,for%20developing%20dementia%20and%20Alzheimer's.
About Beyond Birth
Beyond Birth was set up in November 2019 by Sophie Burch to help families with their mental wellbeing and long-term health. She created an ebook guide and then ran local group sessions for new mums up until the pandemic hit. Ten percent of all the proceeds from the guide and groups goes to the Pandas Foundation.
Sophie moved her groups online to reach more parents In a bid to grow Beyond Birth to support even more parents, she began to train other practitioners, from trained psychologists, breastfeeding supporters and social workers to hypnobirthing, baby massage, pregnancy yoga and sing-and-sign teachers. All of these trained practitioners will be able to run virtual or in-person groups in their communities, feel confident about teaching mental health and wellbeing tools and provide support where it’s needed. Sophie’s practitioner training is now CPD certified and she has trained women globally.
Sophie is now seeking investment to increase reach and train more midwives, health visitors and staff at children’s centres. She is also collaborating with PMH Training CIC Dr Jane Hanley and Mark Williams because the programme is for dads and partners just as much as it’s for mums.
Contact info & for more information, interviews with Sophie and quotes for comment, please contact: Sophie Burch sophie@themammacoach.com www.themammacoach.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themammacoach/ & https://www.instagram.com/beyond_birth_guide/
Sophie moved her groups online to reach more parents In a bid to grow Beyond Birth to support even more parents, she began to train other practitioners, from trained psychologists, breastfeeding supporters and social workers to hypnobirthing, baby massage, pregnancy yoga and sing-and-sign teachers. All of these trained practitioners will be able to run virtual or in-person groups in their communities, feel confident about teaching mental health and wellbeing tools and provide support where it’s needed. Sophie’s practitioner training is now CPD certified and she has trained women globally.
Sophie is now seeking investment to increase reach and train more midwives, health visitors and staff at children’s centres. She is also collaborating with PMH Training CIC Dr Jane Hanley and Mark Williams because the programme is for dads and partners just as much as it’s for mums.
Contact info & for more information, interviews with Sophie and quotes for comment, please contact: Sophie Burch sophie@themammacoach.com www.themammacoach.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themammacoach/ & https://www.instagram.com/beyond_birth_guide/