Powerful New Animation - See the Whole of Me
- Sarah Hislam
- Sep 17
- 3 min read
The Hearts and Minds Partnership is delighted to share a guest blog piece written by the organisations behind the creation of a powerful new animation capturing the voices and perinatal experiences of mums from seldom-heard communities. We are sure you will agree that this short film is both moving and informative - it at once sent shivers down our spines and demonstrated the impact that genuine listening can have on individuals and communities.
Though the animation has primarily been made by and for people in Cumbria, its content is broad-reaching and the creators have kindly made it free to access - encouraging the perinatal mental health VCSE sector and beyond to share it to support families in their local areas.
Read more about this amazing film and scroll to the bottom to watch the animation:
‘See the Whole of Me’: a community, life-course approach to maternal listening
The transformational impact of listening has been highlighted in a new animation that captures the experiences of a group of mums and mums-to-be from across north Cumbria.
Drawing from the award-winning Ways to Wellness Maternal Mental Health Services prototype, the film, which has been co-created by OpenLab (Newcastle University), and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations, alongside non-profit design agency Roots and Wings, aims to normalise poor maternal mental health, and overcome stigma following national research findings that 70% of mums downplay their mental health needs.
‘See the Whole of Me’ was a truly collaborative project led by OpenLab, and serves to evidence the positive impact of taking a whole-life community-based approach to maternal listening. Highlighting the importance of peer support, it references the Hearts and Minds Partnership, and points new mums and mums to be to resources that offer Support For Parents.
The powerful animation captures the voices of, and insights from, mums from seldom heard communities often excluded from the system, who took part in a series of storytelling workshops in which they shared their perinatal experiences.
The sessions were led by OpenLab researchers in collaboration with The Happy Mums Foundation and health inequalities charity Ways to Wellness, together with community-based partners local to different parts of the region, to best harness knowledge specific to those areas.
Workshop activities including an icebreaker and a Zine making session
Using a ball of wool as a metaphorical tool to encourage peer sharing and a sense of community, the workshops led to the development of a zine and blog post, and now a report (available here) and animation ‘See the Whole of Me’, presenting a model of care for maternal listening taken from preliminary outputs.
The project’s findings highlight three key areas:
the women wanted to provide a message of hope for new mums and mums to be
the consequences of not feeling heard and listened to, and the idea of ‘listening as a safety net’
greater emphasis on the impact of listening on maternal mental health
A co-designed workshop and screening session at Holme Head House in Carlisle
With the animation funded by INCLUDE+ and the Centre for Digital Citizens, research participants co-designed its storyboard and script in a series of further engagements through which their voices were recorded for inclusion.
This additional support presented the team with a collective opportunity to create a meaningful method to demonstrate the lasting impact of truly community-based participatory design, and we hope the film serves to inspire actionable steps towards more holistic, compassionate care for maternal mental health.
We encourage you to share the animation with families, health and care professionals, and those concerned with supporting better maternal mental health in your locality and in your networks. You can watch the animation below as well as finding it on Vimeo Maternal Listening: ‘See the Whole of Me’.
A huge thank you to all the individuals and organisations who were involved in creating this animation and writing this blog piece. As mentioned above, you are welcome to share the video with those who might benefit from watching it - though please remember to credit those involved (Roots and Wings, OpenLab (Newcastle University), The Happy Mums Foundation, and Ways to Wellness) if you share it on your own platforms.
The Hearts and Minds Partnership
