On 8 November PQN (Perinatal Quality Network) hosted its 12th Annual Forum.
On the day we welcomed over 200 attendees to engage with an exciting programme exploring the learning from the pandemic and reflecting on new innovations at services. Hosted by Accreditation Committee chair, Roch Cantwell, and compered by the PQN team, it was a chance for our member services to come together, mutually exchange best practice and reflect on what has been a uniquely challenging year for perinatal services.
- One of the highlights included a discussion space with attendees where they could reflect on the work they currently do with patients, experts by experience and peer support workers. Attendees discussed the benefits of this work, how this work has changed during the pandemic and future plans. Attendees gave great insight into their services and was a great opportunity for services to learn from one another.
- We had a diverse range of topics looking at: the impact of COVID-19 on Welsh services and Nursery Nurses, experiences of a cross border project on perinatal mental health, using an adapted ‘tree of life’ model for couples within a perinatal family therapy service and supporting mothers and their infants in the pandemic through an online sensory-based five-week programme.
- We were fortunate to have a special guest speaker, Mark Williams, returning to discuss the importance of paternal mental health. Mark delivered a webinar a year ago about his personal experiences following the birth of his children and the work he does as an international campaigner. He returned this time to talk about how this line of work has come along and new developments in his campaign. Mark spoke about the recent release of ’Daddy Blues’ on Amazon Prime, a film based on the book of the same title by Mark which explores his experience of postnatal depression.
- At the end of the day we had a fascinating roundtable discussion chaired by Roch Cantwell on the value of Peer Support Workers at services. Roch was joined by Carly Finneran (Peer Support Worker), Charlie Francis-Pape (PQN Patient Representative) and Hannah Bissett from Action on Postpartum Psychosis to discuss their experiences of peer support work and the benefits this work has for mothers.
Feedback both from attendees and on social media was very positive and the event was a huge success for the team.
If you would like to access any recordings or slides for any of the sessions from the event, please do get in touch with a member of the PQN team via perinatal-chat@rcpsych.ac.uk