Welcoming a child into the world can provoke many changes in the family life. This transition can often lead to some women struggling with their feelings that are associated with anxiety and low mood. Women can feel overwhelmed, sad, lonely and frustrated at a time where they have been led to believe by society that they should feel happy and euphoric. In addition to this, there may be lasting effects of birth trauma, which can become very overwhelming very fast. Unfortunately, women and their families often go without the right support either, because of the stigma of reaching out for help or because they may not fit the strict criteria attached to services that have limited resources. Since experiencing birth trauma myself almost 8 years ago with my son, I have for the most part been left in a traumatised state and it has only been in the past few years that I have managed to move more into a state of recovery. So I know only too well how the fairy-tale we get sold as young girls and women can often read like a horror story without the right support in place. In my professional life I have worked in many areas of the care sector, but my lived experiences of mental health conditions and trauma made me want to specialise in supporting others on their mental health and wellbeing journey. Therefore, I became a Mental Health Nurse. More recently I reconnected with Maxine Stevens (founder) and we discovered we were on the same path, in that we wanted to provide a service and a comfort zone to mums and their families who are experiencing feelings of sadness, panic, loneliness, frustration, irritation or anger as result of birth trauma. As well as important ‘me’ time so they can have the space they need to focus on themselves and their emotional needs. Eventually we would like this provision to provide all of this for other mums and families that are experiencing other varying mental health struggles in the perinatal period too. I really hope that after reading this, women and their families draw some comfort on the fact that there are people out there that care and we want to walk alongside you in your individual journey to recovery.

I am a mum of 2 boys and a primary school teacher with 20 years experience and a Forest school Practitioner. I have a passion to approach teaching with trauma informed and relational practice sitting at the heart of the interactions with the children in my care. Over the years, I have delivered nurture groups to children within school and forest settings; offering them a space to breathe out, connect with themselves and use nature as a tool for healing. Being part of this charity feels like an extremely important part of my journey. My own transition into motherhood has not been without its trauma and the importance of making support available to mums is absolutely crucial. The vision for You Me Mind will offer a much needed space and place of knowledge sharing. I see the impact of intergenerational trauma everyday in my daily work and being part of a charity supporting the healing of trauma will have such a huge impact on not only the mothers attending but the children in their care.

Kamya is a women’s rites of passage guide and mentor. She tends the thresholds of life's transitions by creating handmade transformative rites of passages for girls, women, mothers, and elders that acknowledge and celebrate the significant cycles and stages of our lives. Transitions from adolescence to healthy young adulthood, the journey and metamorphosis of matrescence, and the crossing into elderhood. Each rite of passage is a quest to discover our own calling, a listening to our own ways of knowing, remembering who we are, and understanding of the gifts we bring to the world, and to the unfolding vision of our lives. Kamya is trained as a Motherhood Studies practitioner, Trauma Informed Space holder and certified Youth Mental Health First Aider and Rites of Passage Mentor.  She is the founder of The Thresholds and Transitions Trust,- a women’s collaborative based on intersectional feminist, decolonizing, animist and earth honouring values.

I was delighted to be invited to support such a wonderful charity. You Me Mind, aims to provide and support a safe space that allows families to talk, learn and share their story. Something that is so very natural and welcomed within any parent’s journey. My personal story and time within midwifery has allowed me to listen, help and support birthing people to unpick and try to understand, allowing them to find ways to manage and begin to move forward. As a mother, a professional and an advocate for clinical excellence, I hope that the ethos of You Me Mind will encourage and support openness, kindness and compassion, allowing families to collectively share in a place of psychological safety.