.
The Quarterly Round-Up
NCT News In Brief
Tracy Lee-Southon, mum to Noah (6) and Naomi (4)
and in Peterborough, where charity has partnered with a local housing association. NCT is also working with potential partners in Yorkshire and the West Midlands for more sites to commence next spring.
Nick Wilkie, Chief Executive, NCT, said: “We’re deeply committed to increasing the reach and diversity of our services for parents so are very much looking forward to scaling up our work in less affluent communities...Being chosen by Nesta to help improve children’s development is no small matter for us. It’s a ringing endorsement of the work we’ve done to build effective peer support programmes over the last few years.”
NCT welcomes BJGP study into factors putting women off seeking help for postnatal depression
Research published in BJGP, helps to explain why so many new mothers suffering from mental health problems do not seek help and it highlights that many mothers are afraid of being judged or that social services might get involved.
NCT strongly supports RCGP’s view that the routine six-week postnatal check is a crucial opportunity for GPs and new mothers to discuss issues around mental health and that the checks need be much longer so that GPs are able to give both the new mother and baby enough attention. We also support RCGP’s call for more resources for GPs so they can fully meet the needs of new mothers.
NCT’s #HiddenHalf campaign is pressing for every new mother to get a full appointment for the maternal check at six weeks after birth. We released new research in June, showing that new mothers are particularly susceptible to feelings of failure and fear of judgement, which mean they are less likely to proactively seek medical help for mental health problems. Therefore a supportive conversation with a GP is vital to accessing treatment.
NCT is calling for more funding and better guidance for doctors for the six week check and is asking supporters to sign up to the campaign at www.nct.org.uk/hiddenhalf.
NCT has been awarded new funding to train more than 200 Birth and Beyond Community Supporters in five areas of England.
NCT has been awarded new funding from the Early Years Social Action Fund, run by innovation foundation Nesta and supported by Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to train more than 200 Birth and Beyond Community Supporters (BBCS) in five areas of England.
These new volunteers will support hundreds of mothers in disadvantaged communities who are at risk of isolation and struggling to access the services they need.
New programmes began in the autumn in Feltham, West London where NCT is working with a local school;
NCT awarded new Nesta funding to reach more disadvantaged mothers