An intrepid fundraiser is set to cycle from Balloch to Oxfordshire to raise awareness of a condition that affects more than 1,400 new mums every year in the UK.
Richard Baish lost his much-loved wife, Alex, in September last year following after a battle with postpartum psychosis.
Postpartum psychosis (PP) is a severe, but treatable, form of mental illness that occurs in the first days or weeks after having a baby.
Symptoms of PP include hallucinations, delusions, confusion, mania, depression, anxiety and unusual behaviour. It can happen out of the blue to women without previous experience of mental illness and can worsen very quickly.
Seeing his late wife’s battle with the condition inspired Rich to devote himself to raising awareness in her memory, with the Oxfordshire dad-of-two calling on education around it to be made mandatory at antenatal classes.
He also wants to see GPs given more training on how to recognise the signs of the PP.
Rich and friends Lewis Allman, Ian Hughes, James Gilbert, Tommy McMullan and Andy Caton, are now set for a mammoth cycle from Balloch, an area close to the hearts of Alex’s family, to their hometown in Oxfordshire to raise money for Action on Postpartum Psychosis.
Money raised will then be spent on training for GPs and greater education materials for use in antenatal classes, something Rich hopes will save lives in the future.
He said: “Being in that situation is something I don’t want anyone else to have to experience.
“I have two kids and I didn’t know much about either postnatal depression or postpartum psychosis. Which I think is criminal in a way.
“Postpartum psychosis is basically a more extreme version of postnatal depression to the point where someone can rapidly decline over just two or three days and can take their own life.
“On both of our antenatal courses we went on it felt like it was covered up. The message we were given was focused on how great an experience it would be having a child.
“We are almost mollycoddled too much at the antenatal groups and in talks with the GPs. There wasn’t a mention that something like this could happen.
“I get that people don’t want to scare new mums because there’s so much trepidation around already. But it needs to be said, it needs to be talked about and we need to remove the stigma so people can talk if they are upset in the slightest.
“GPs need to be trained to notice the signs. When my wife went to the GP she should’ve been referred to A&E immediately. Just as she would’ve been if she was having a heart attack.
“The main frustration for me, and something I want to make everyone aware of, is that it is treatable. But it needs to be treated as a medical emergency.
“The money I’m raising will go directly towards training GPs. They will hold online conferences to help them spot the signs, as well as to antenatal groups to suggest that the message should be given to new and expectant mums.”
And he hopes that raising awareness of the condition will help more new parents realise that it’s okay to experience mental health challenges after childbirth.
He explained: “I’m a parent and it’s the best news you can have in the world. But people feel guilty about saying to people that it isn’t what they signed up to.
“I work in a school, and so many of the mums I’ve spoken to have said they suffered from some sort of depression following childbirth.
“My message is to talk. You’d be amazed at how many people feel similar to you.”
Rich has already raised more than £36,000 towards his £50,000 target, and isn’t due to set off until May 29, admitting he has been overwhelmed by the response.
He added: “I’m blown away by the support. By the first day we’d raised £15,000.
“It’s slowed down since then, as you’d expect. But we’ve not set off yet and we’re still well over half way there. It’s amazing. I’m so happy with how much traction it’s got.
“As well as raising money it’s so important to raise awareness of postpartum psychosis. If people can’t donate then just being able to talk about it and building knowledge is every bit as important.”
To donate to Rich’s appeal visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richardbaish.
