Perinatal Support Nelson provides support and counselling to women and their families.

Dawn Allan from Postnatal Support Network Nelson

Hi! We are Perinatal Support Nelson formerly Postnatal Depression Support Network Nelson Inc. a not-for-profit organisation that supports women and their families/whanau that are experiencing Perinatal Depression/Distress and/or Anxiety (PND).
We have been supporting the Nelson and Tasman communities since 1989, when a group of local women who had all been affected by PND, sought help from each other when they recognised the lack of support available in our community.
This support network continues today, and has adapted and grown to meet our current societies’ needs and high demand. It is made up of three paid part-time workers, nine volunteer Support Workers, three Counsellors and six Board members.

The services we offer are all FREE, and can be either at the clients’ home or at our offices. We provide Support Workers and qualified Counsellors, and also offer support and social groups - as isolation and feeling alone are major factors that can contribute to PND, these groups are invaluable and found to be hugely beneficial for mums.

For us, 2017 was very busy, with the highest number of referrals we have ever received. We are unsure as to why there has been such a huge increase in demand for our service, but we are determined to remain an option for mums in our area who are needing support.

In the short term, we help to reduce admissions to the acute mental health service, by addressing PND in its early stages and establishing support before it escalates.

Some of the long term benefits to families/whanau include; the establishment of improved bonding between mother and infants, happier families with more stable parenting and better learning and social outcomes for children.

In the community, to remain involved and active, and to help with education about PND, we give talks to antenatal and parenting classes/groups, which help parents identify some of the symptoms of PND and give advice on what to do if there are concerns for a mum.

Also, over recent years we developed a pamphlet in collaboration with The Male Room Nelson, to help support the fathers as 1in 6 men can also experience Postnatal Depression, and a group to help them better support themselves, their families/whanau and their wives/partners when they are having a difficult time after the birth of a baby. We also run occasional groups for dads.

We feel honoured to be able to support people during this very precious, yet often difficult time and are very passionate about the work we do. We believe that every community needs to ensure the wellbeing of their families/whanau – as this unit is the base from which we all grow and can thrive or wither, depending on the experience we have. The mother is usually the main attachment figure in the family/whanau for babies, so it’s vital to ensure she is well cared for and supported – becoming a mother in modern times can be very difficult with increased pressures and strains, alongside this, they often now lack the family, social and community supports that were once more commonplace – we aim to bring some of that back and create more nurturing and guidance at this important time, when needed.

Finally, here is some feedback received this week from a recent service user, which sums up the impact our organisations’ support can have;

“I had never heard of this service before but it is an absolute god-send. The work these ladies do is amazing. Through my work with Jeanette I have been able to take a negative and horrible situation and turn it into having an amazing loving bond with my child and also myself. Thank you sooo much for your support!”