MOTHERS using a mental health support group in Redditch have deemed its potential closure ‘unbelievable’.
Mums in Mind, run by local charity Home-Start, helps mothers with postnatal depression and is just one of many services at risk of closing if Home-Start cannot raise £70,000 by August.
The support group helps women in Redditch and Bromsgrove dealing with mental health issues, offering them a safe place where they can talk, get advice and move forward through their illness.
One mum who goes to the weekly group session said: “I spent a long time trying to find something like this and there is nowhere else like it.
“The thought of other mums not being offered this service is unimaginable. The group to me is invaluable.”
Another user of Mums In Mind said: “It gives us that support network that we just don’t get from other places. It provides us with a new family, who all understand exactly what we’re going through.
“Other new mums might say they understand, but they don’t realise the difference between being tired and being depressed.
“Similarly, while your family might be supportive and offer their help, they just presume that you’re coping and will feel better after a good night’s sleep, but postnatal depression just doesn’t work like that.
“I need this network of mums who really understand what I’m going through and who won’t judge me.”
Volunteer Kerry Croft said: “It’s amazing to see how people change being here. It’s unthinkable where some of these women would turn if we weren’t here.”
Kerry, who was helped by Mums in Mind herself around 11 years ago, now runs the group alongside group leader Debbie McCammon.
“Some of these women can barely even bring themselves to speak when they first come to us,” said Debbie.
“They feel lost and alone, but we can help them get the help they need and look after them throughout their sometime difficult journey.”
Home-Start helps hundreds of families every year and is appealing for funding support so it can remain open and continue to provide vital support to the people of Redditch and Bromsgrove.
Home-Start offer a free creche for the women using the support group and run family group sessions three times a week to give parents a chance to interact while their children play in a safe environment.
A parent said: “I think it’s unbelievable that this service could be taken away.
“As a young mum, I felt so out of my depth after I had my first child – I didn’t go out and I couldn’t cope.
“These family sessions meant I could meet other mums who were perhaps struggling and we could just talk and connect and leave feeling better.
“I would not be the parent I am today without the support from Home-Start.”
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