Helping New Mothers to Help Themselves

Dr Sandra Wheatley has written this information pack for those who work with women who have antenatal or postnatal depression such as health visitors and midwives, and multi-disciplinary team members like maternity or family support workers.

It is intended to act as a catalyst; encouraging women to participate within their communities and therefore reap the benefits of being a part of their community. The pack emphasizes the benefits of sharing experiences and gaining positive praise through social contact with others in similar circumstances.

For all those intending to use the pack the training courses, led by the author, must be completed. For those involved in women’s care in general, the one-day postnatal depression awareness-raising course is necessary. In the case of those intending to work as a facilitator directly with women the two-day course is necessary in addition to that of the awareness raising day.

The pack contains a CD with a series of 4-8 structured sessions with sufficiently detailed information sheets for the facilitator (or pair of facilitators when working in a group setting) to work through various practical topics. These include: controlling negative thinking, successful problem solving and confidently seeking and accepting help, all of which are known to aid recovery from depression. Within each session, time is allocated for the main topic and for sharing thoughts and feelings. As an alternative to the Edinburgh scale (EPDS) the pack also includes the ‘Four Weekly Wheatley’ self-assessment questionnaire.

To obtain samples of the information pack and to enquire about training in its implementation contact sandra@potent.uk.com