Publish date: 2 May 2025
More than 200 NHS staff, maternity professionals, third sector organisations and service users from across the country gathered in London on Wednesday, for the first Maternal Mental Health Service Summit, ahead of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week.
The event was organised by a working group of NHS maternity mental health professionals from NHS Trusts across the country, including West London NHS Trust, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (FT), Central and North West London NHS FT, South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust and Oxleas NHS FT.
Themed ‘Every Parent, Every Path: A Holistic Approach’, the event was aimed at bringing stakeholders together to share best practice, showcase innovation and plan for the future. It included panel discussions, self-care segments, a poster display and competition, an art showcase and networking sessions.
Speakers included a diverse group of individuals from NHS Trusts and organisations stretching across West Yorkshire, Manchester, Ireland and London, covering a range of themes on maternal loss, health inequalities and working in partnership to provide compassionate maternity support.
One of the organisers, Hadiss Khossravi, Principal Cognitive Behavioural Therapist/Clinical Lead with West London NHS Trust’s Maternity Trauma & Loss Care Service said:
“It was completely sold out. This conference is bringing together learnings from maternity mental health services, we have different professionals like midwives, psychologists and psychological practitioners, and individuals with lived experience. We see this conference as a start, the beginning. Before we even started planning the conference, we sent a survey out far and wide asking people what they wanted to hear about. For me one of the highlights is that the topics that were chosen were chosen by people out there, and being able to bring in and have different speakers from different angles, and having that diversity in the context of what we covered, for me that was the highlight.”
Participants were treated to a surprise guest appearance by former television personality, Mr Motivator, who thanked everyone for their work and guided them through an upbeat string of exercises. The 72-year-old, who rose to fame in the 90s with his exercise segments on morning television, offered a message of self-care and hope.
It was pertinent and timely, given that presenters were earlier speaking about the importance of addressing their own trauma.
“Exercise is medicine and not enough people are taking the medicine of movement. The most difficult thing I ever had to deal with was losing my granddaughter at age 12. In life you’re going to get those ups and downs but it’s only a bad moment, it’s not a bad life.
“Imagine your life is this bright sheet of paper and if I use a marker to make a dot, the moment that happens, we don’t see the rest of our lives, all we see is that mark.
“I was given away at a few months of age but it was the best thing my mum ever did. The measure of everything we go through in life is to focus on where you are now. Don’t lose hope,” he said.
‘Art helped me process my maternal loss’
Earlier in the day, participants heard from Catherine Miller, an artist, and researcher whose work was on display at the conference. Catherine’s work explores themes of maternal loss, uncertainty and childhood trauma.
“I had my first maternal loss was 2012, my second in 2014, and then nine years ago I had my daughter but that featured a lot of birth trauma that was never really processed for me. Working with midwives in West Yorkshire to help me realise how I can navigate that myself through my own artwork. By making art I released all the hidden emotions and things that were still festering inside me.”
Now, for her Master’s Degree dissertation, Catherine is researching how midwife-led NHS art groups in West Yorkshire are helping people to work through their trauma and self-heal.
“Art helps to visually show your emotion rather than when you are struggling, trying to communicate that verbally. It helps you to release your subconscious, hidden emotion,” said Catherine.
Among the many speakers featured, the conference also included a presentation from Laura Mullarkey, Legal Lead at the charity Birthwright, who spoke about the rights of women and birthing people during pregnancy and birth, addressing the connection between human rights breaches and trauma.
