Community Corner

My Birth Support CiC - Our regular spotlight on a grassroots VCSE organisation in the perinatal mental health sector

What is the name of your organisation and when did you set up?

My Birth Support has existed as a CIC since March 2021. However, Aileen White, the founder has offered perinatal mental health support since 2013 in Medway and Merseyside.

Where are you based?

Canterbury, Kent

What services do you offer and who do you support?

We prioritise teaching parents a whole toolkit of strategies that help them to care for their own mental health and heal themselves. This helps to equip them to maintain their mental health as they grow into parenthood.

We currently offer:

• Affordable group childbirth preparation courses for those who feel anxious or fearful and birth trauma recovery courses for those who have had difficult pregnancy, bad birth or challenging postnatal journey

• A free neurodivergent and disabled parents Stay and Play group in Canterbury UK and monthly breakfasts that are designed to pamper the parent while their children play, sleep or are at school

• A monthly online Maternal Journal Evening Circle for those who identify as mums across the UK

• Bespoke 1:1 support for those who are tokophobic when trying to prepare for birth; those wanting to recover after birth trauma and families who are living with infant loss. Aileen teaches Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) as a tool to support wholeness. She also offers Spiritual Direction alongside the PMH work for those who have faith or are asking about questions of faith

• Two podcast series for parents to use to help care for their PMH

• Training to other birth, parenting and perinatal mental health practitioners about how to improve their support under these themes: trauma informed practise, post traumatic growth, supporting neurodiversity, how to start a CIC and gain funding.

Aileen, who leads our sessions is also a Root Maker for the Hearts and Minds Partnership, offering support for Equity, Diversity, Equality & Inclusion in PMH to other VCSEs in England.

What prompted you to set up in the first place?

The journey of our founding director Aileen White, in overcoming tokophobia herself, has helped to shape the support we offer to other parents. This wouldn't have been possible without many different people, faith and organisations helping Aileen to learn how to acknowledge and deal with what was going on, one step at a time over 6 years+.

My Birth Support has naturally evolved and changed over time as Aileen has learned from different people, modalities (approaches to helping people therapeutically) and fellow parents about what is needed and what can help. Whenever possible My Birth Support tries to work in partnership with others to offer what is missing in the local area. One of our founding principles is to compliment rather than replicate what is already done really well. The diversity of our support has grown over the past 13 years as need arose with the communities we worked with in Medway, Merseyside and now Canterbury.

Do you run or plan to develop any services that reflect specific needs within your community?   

We noticed that many of the families who access our support are neurodivergent or disabled so we now co-facilitate a weekly Stay and Play group that is deliberately kept smaller than most toddler groups. This helps support those who are feeling vulnerable, anxious, are neurodivegent or disabled. A number of these parents have also been through refuge after domestic abuse so the group focuses on the care of the parents each week as well as allowing little ones to play and get some breakfast.

What do you find most rewarding about running your organisation?   

Seeing the body language of parents change as they grow in confidence and hope as they learn who they are and their worth. To see the transformation as they grapple with their fear and learn how to deal with it, so it is acknowledged, released and doesn't define them anymore.

If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice when starting up, what would it be?

Aileen says “Keep practising what you teach the parents! Managing and growing a VCSE while also being a parent and working on the front line with parents is regularly overwhelming! So pace yourself, use the techniques you teach to acknowledge and release the anxiety. Keep breathing. Be compassionate with yourself, you can do this with God's help one step at a time.”

If you could give all parents / carers a super power what would that be and why?

Lavish amounts of self-compassion. It's desperately needed and would naturally extend to others around them too.

Is there anything about your service that makes it stand out from the crowd or offers something a little bit different?

We are creative, we don't offer just one thing and we use all the senses in our teaching. Aileen is a very experienced teacher and teacher trainer who is gifted in helping people learn, no matter their learning style or special needs. She does use talking and listening, but also playdoh, games, EFT, visualisation, crafts, creative writing and journaling to help parents grow in confidence and wholeness. It makes learning and growth fun, interactive and embodied.

What keeps you going when things get tough?

Aileen says “Resting and listening, stopping long enough to notice what IS working and being grateful. Taking this time in prayer is vital for the work I do. I can't do this work on my own, I need time to receive and discern what matters before I can give to anyone else. It's not me doing the healing, but instead I have the opportunity to facilitate a space and environment where healing is possible. I don't always remember to rest - it is helpful to be reminded, thank you!”

Is there anything you'd like to tell us about your service or organisation? Any recent wins or things to celebrate?

Most recently, Aileen has really been enjoying training health care professionals through the Neurodivergent Birth Practitioner Training Programme. My Birth Support also developed a new training programme for Mayah's Legacy charity called "SisterZ Advocates". A four x session series to help women feel more confident and better equipped to advocate for themselves, their families and friends, especially in a health care setting. In addition this year they are also working with Peeps Charity to support their parents who are living with the effects of an HIE (Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy) event. Working in partnership with other organisations in this way helps My Birth Support to ensure more parents get the care they need quickly.

Thank you to Aileen for sharing these insights on behalf of My Birth Support CiC. You can find out more about the organisation by visiting: www.mybirth.org.uk or contacting aileen@mybirth.org.uk or 01227 933 361

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