Jo Morton (left) and Karan Cunningham

Mum's the word

More than 5,000 babies are born in Hull every year, and one in seven mums will suffer postnatal depression after giving birth. However, help is at hand

Karan Cunningham and Jo Morton were plunged into anxiety and despair following the birth of their children.
It's a condition called postnatal depression (PND) and hundreds of Hull women go through it every year.
But now fully recovered, Karan and Jo have set up a charity called House of Light to use their experiences to help other mums cope with the illness.

Karan's story

Within two weeks of bringing her daughter Evie, now five, home from hospital, Karan entered what she describes as the darkest time of her life.
She began to believe she couldn't look after her baby properly and this made her feel desperate, even suicidal at times.
It took months for Karan to recover, but with the support of her husband, family, friends and her health visitor she pulled though.
"Evie was the perfect baby and I bonded with her straight away so I couldn't understand what was happening," Karan (41) said.
"I'd never suffered from anxiety before but the effects of pregnancy, childbirth and the responsibilities of looking after my daughter left me feeling overwhelmed.
"When I was going through it, I desperately wanted to speak to a woman who had been there, someone who could empathise with me and give me hope.
"To help myself I searched the internet for someone to speak to but found no-one, and during that time I became aware of the great gap in services for women suffering from the illness.
"Then I told my health visitor that when I recovered I wanted to help other mums going through the same experience."

"I became aware of the great gap in services for women suffering from the illness." – Karan Cunningham

Jo's story

When Joanne gave birth to baby Joseph, now two-and-a-half, she had the son she had always wanted.
She soon felt the strain of bringing up her son but plodded on thinking everything was normal.
Five months later, she was in tears all the time, suffered nightmares and lived with a deep-rooted fear that something terrible was going to happen to Joseph.
Her health visitor saw what was wrong and put her in contact with Karan.
"I was a wreck, my mind was frazzled and I thought I was going insane," Jo (32) says.
"I had never suffered from anything like this before, I had a normal pregnancy and birth and a supportive husband but when my health visitor put me in touch with Karan, I was so relieved to speak to someone who really knew what I was going through." House of Light is born Karan and Jo found they shared a desire to help women overcome PND and in January 2007 they established House of Light.
Based at Living Hope Church in Linnaeus Street, the project offers a free-phone helpline for mums; mothers can attend a drop-in session every Monday from 1-2.30pm; and Jo and Karan visit women at home on a one-to-one basis.
Jo gave up her job as a midwife and Karan gave up work as a care-cordinator in social services so they could both work full-time on the project.
So far they have helped more than 150 Hull women and the project has been backed with a £75,000 grant from Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust.

Many causes

PND can be triggered by many things.
Every case is different and depends on the mother and her circumstances, says Katharine Barker, a community mental health nurse with the Humber Mental Health Teaching Trust.
"There is no shame in having PND and it doesn't mean mums are a failure," she adds.
"Lots of help is available through GPs, health visitors, and Sure Start children's centres in Hull, so I urge mums not to suffer in silence but to seek support at the earliest opportunity."

Positive Assets Meanwhile, residents in Hull who have been out of work as a result of mental health problems are being assisted back into employment. Positive Assets works with Hull City Council, Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust, and Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust to help people find jobs. Services available through Positive Assets include job search sessions, advice on filling out application forms and interview skills training. World Mental Health Day To mark World Mental Health Day on October 10, staff from Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust will be in Princes Quay to speak to people about how to maintain emotional and mental well-being.

info

For more information on House of Light, visit www.pndsupport.co.uk or call free-phone on 0800 043 2031. For more information on Positive Assets, call 01482 389225 or visit www.humber.nhs.uk

Working in partnership
Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust tel. (01482) 344700