12th December 2019
As an active member of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA), the iHV is proud to have supported the new perinatal peer support principles – launched on 3 December.
Launch of Perinatal Peer Support Principles at Peerfest on 3 December 2019
The Perinatal Peer Support Principles are a set of five values designed to give peer supporters the confidence to create and deliver peer support that meets the needs of women and families affected by mental health problems during pregnancy or the postnatal period.
The principles were co-designed by Mind, the McPin Foundation, and a team of lived experience facilitators, with support from the MMHA. They provide guidance to help ensure that peer support is safe, inclusive, and helpful, and that it meets the unique needs of mothers and babies.
Laura Wood, a mum with lived experience and one of three lived experience facilitators on this project, said:
“I hope that these principles will make safe, welcoming, nurturing peer support accessible to more mums who need it. I believe that they will, as lived experience has been at the heart of the project. Because the principles were co-created with women and families who have lived through perinatal mental health difficulties, they are shaped around their needs, not what others imagine those needs to be.”
You can access the principles, and a more detailed report, via the Maternal Mental Health Alliance website.
To subscribe to the newsletter and/or enquire about hosting a workshop or event with the perinatal peer support principles, please email [email protected]
