Pregnancy and New Parents

The world is quite a strange place at the moment and you may not be experiencing pregnancy or motherhood as you would have hoped. Having a baby can be a wonderful experience but at times you may feel anxious, sad, angry or frustrated as well as grateful and happy. This mixture of emotions may seem overwhelming and it may feel like you are on our own with them, but you are not alone. Often night times are one of the most difficult periods, new born babies cluster feed more at night than during the day so it can be very difficult for you to sleep, if you have other children at home you may find it difficult to nap during the day. All the extra worry and lack of sleep can make anyone anxious yet when you are a parent it seems that you worry about everything.

If you feel that you would like some extra support then during the day you can contact the Perinatal Community Health Team on 0161 271 0188. However, on weekends or during the night you can contact the Greater Manchester Mental Health Helpline on 0800 953 0285. This helpline is open 24 hours a day 7 days week.

Remember to attend all your appointments with your midwife, health visitor or GP as it is important to care for you and your baby’s physical health. You should also continue with all your prescribed medication, if you have any questions about your medicines please contact the community mental health team on 0161 271 0188 or your GP. At the moment it can take longer to get your repeat prescription so please make sure you order it in advance and you could also arrange for your pharmacy to deliver it.

Put Your Oxygen Mask on First

It is important that you look after yourself but you may put everyone else’s needs before your own. If you’ve ever been on a plane the cabin staff ask you to put on your oxygen mask first so that you can help your children. The same philosophy applies to this situation, if you forget to look after yourself then you can feel more stressed. Try to create a simple plan of the day as this will give you some structure and you can then remember to include some self care. You could start with planning what time you will have your meals and what time you’d like to go to bed. 

You can then think about fitting other activities into the rest of the day, here are some ideas that you may want to try:

  • Watch a film
  • Have a bath, either on your own or with baby
  • Do a face mask
  • Listen to music
  • Go for a walk
  • Do a word search
  • Watch funny videos

Support for New and Expectant Parents During Lockdown

Being a new or expectant parent during lockdown can be stressful. If you are stuggling with your mental health, you are not alone. 

Local services are help to help you during this difficult time.

 

To find out more speak with your GP, Midwife, Health Visitor or click on the following link for specialist services in perinatal mental health and parent infant mental health in Greater Manchester: https://hub.gmhsc.org.uk/mental-health/perinatal-and-parent-infant-mental-
health-2/

Please download our posters for new or expectant parents below:

Poster for Parent 1.pdf

Poster for Parent 2.pdf

 

Being alone with a baby who is struggling to settle can be difficult for any parent. The ongoing isolation of lockdown can make this extra stressful. If you are struggling, you are not alone. 

Help and support is available. 

 

Check out the websites below for information and support:

 

For free 24 hour support Text BABYBUDDY to 85258 or you can speak with the Samaritans by phoning 116 123 – You are not alone

 

Please download our posters for parents below:

Crying and Babies Poster.pdf

Lockdown and Loneliness Poster.pdf

 

Supporting Children and Babies

This can be an unsettling time for children as their usual routine has changed completely, they may be missing friends and other family members. Children tend to find it difficult to tell you what they are feeling but may let you that they are unhappy and worried by being defiant, having tantrums or wanting extra cuddles. Babies and very young children will not know what is going on, but will pick up on emotions.

  • Keep talking to them, playing with them, and being reassuring and soothing them as much as you can.
  • Allow older children to ask questions.
  • Explain what you can in an age-appropriate way. Younger children may understand a cartoon or picture better than an explanation.
  • It’s OK to say you don’t know – most adults don’t know what’s going to happen.
  • Ask them how they are feeling and allow them to express difficult feelings. Ask them for any ideas they have about what might help them. You could try talking about this, writing, or drawing a picture.
  • Give practical advice about staying healthy – e.g. washing hands and using tissues for coughs and sneezes. 

Activities and Worksheets

Family Planner

When thinking about structuring your day try not to be too fixed, you may plan to do school work with your older children but actually you are all a bit fed up and can’t really do it; so try something else like a game of snap or ludo. 

By creating a rough guide to the week you have something to look forward to and the whole family can get involved and think of activities.

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Morning

Pancakes for breakfast

school work

School Work

Go for a walk

Tidy kitchen drawer

School work Watch live at Chester Zoo Go on a bug hunt Pyjama Morning
Afternoon Board games

Picnic in the park

Play football

School work Rock painting School work Face painting Make mud pies
Evening Bubble bath Paint nails Listen to headspace app Call friends Movie night Family kitchen disco Face mask

 

Mood Tracker

Try to monitor your mood throughout the day. It may help you identify times when you need to change your routine or focus on some self care. You may find that you feel sadder in the morning, if so try to have a slower start to the morning or call a friend. If you notice any patterns then you can let your mental health worker know and they can support you to explore this. If you notice that you are not in a good mood then it can be useful to change what you are doing, how we behave can have a effect on our mood, for example, it is very difficult to be sad when you jump on a trampoline. You may also want to try some mindfulness as this can help you feel calm. You don’t need to do much, just a minute can have a big effect on your mood. There are loads of apps that you can use on your phone, headspace is a very good one or you could look at this website here

Looking to the Future

Remember this situation won’t last forever, so although we don’t know when we will be able to see family and friends and go to the cinema you could create a bucket list of things that you’d like to do. Try to fill the bucket with everything that you miss, eating out, going to the Trafford Centre, going to the cinema, visiting family.

Social Isolation Advice for Families

This is an extremely difficult time for everyone so you need to be kind to yourself, you are trying your best in a situation that we no one has ever been in before.

  • Try to have some structure to the day – involve children in making a ‘timetable.’
  • Create a routine – children need predictability.
  • Use any advice or learning resources from school, but allow lots of time for free play and creativity too. Try to find time for your own hobbies and interests or for learning something new.
  • Try to focus attention on one thing at a time (especially if working from home). Try to give your children your full attention whenever you can.
  • Try to stay active – exercise and movement really help with feelings. Involve children in physical activities: yoga, dancing, PE (there are lots of online resources to help with this).
  • Get outdoors as much as is possible – get fresh air each day in the garden or in the local area if you can.
  • Keep in touch with family and friends using phone or video. Support children to speak to their friends this way too.
  • See if there is a local neighbourhood support group in your area, or think if there is anything you could do to support vulnerable neighbours. 

Getting Help

  • You can speak to your care coordinator, who will be either in the Specialist Perinatal CMHT or another mental health team.
  • You can contact the Specialist Perinatal CMHT Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, on 0161 271 0188
  • You can contact the Greater Manchester Health NHS Trust Helpline, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on 0800 953 0285 
  • Samaritans has a free to call service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, if you want to talk to someone in confidence. Call them on 116 123
  • You can contact NHS 111 if you need urgent care but it’s not life-threatening · In a medical emergency, call 999 if you are seriously ill or injured and your life is at risk. A mental health emergency should be taken as seriously as a physical health emergency. 

Help from other places

There are lots of organisations that provide support for people experiencing perinatal mental health

  • The PANDAS foundation supports people and their families who experience perinatal mental problems. They have a website https://www.pandasfoundation.org.uk/ and also a phone line 0808 1961 776. Available on all landlines. Monday – Sunday 9am- 8pm. Manned by a team of trained volunteers who will be happy to chat to you and direct you to the right support. They also provide email support: info@pandasfoundation.org.uk available 365 days a year. They respond within 72 hours and they provide support for families, friends and colleagues too.
  • The APP is a charity that supports women and families who experience post partum psychosis. They have lots of information and also run a help forum and have lots of resources.
  • Laura Dockrill has recently released a book about her experiences of post partum psychosis it’s called ‘what have I done?’.
  • Anna Mathur has also written a book about her experiences with anxiety and worry ‘Mind Over Mother: Every mum's guide to worry and anxiety in the first year’. 
As a patient

As a service user, relative or carer using our services, sometimes you may need to turn to someone for help, advice, and support. 

Find resources for carers and service users  Contact the Trust