Can experiences of mental health following childbirth help those currently suffering with perinatal mental health issues

在怀孕期间或孩子出生后的第二年，有许多影响妇女的精神健康障碍，这些被定义为围产期精神健康障碍。本论文旨在探讨点对点资源中有关围产期心理健康的母亲叙事如何成为改善患有心理健康问题的母亲的生活的有用工具。以下研究问题将被解决：RQ1：通过点对点资源提供哪些关于产妇心理健康的叙述？这些有助于消除心理健康的污名吗？RQ2：叙事分享对于那些利用自己的围产期心理健康经历帮助他人的母亲来说起到了什么作用？RQ3：患有心理健康问题的母亲如何利用他人的叙事来改善自己的心理健康？目前已经提出的政府政策的核心是确保人们的心理健康和身体健康得到照顾。正如将要探讨的那样，围产期心理健康不仅会给母亲带来心理、社会和情感问题，还会给婴儿造成长期的身体和情感伤害。这两个巨大的困难都对已经在苦苦挣扎的国家卫生服务和长期资金不足且不断减少的幼儿服务造成了财政损失。利用奥利维亚·西格尔创立的“光明之信”项目的信件，将使用深入的定性方法，以新的方式阐明妇女在围产期心理健康方面的经历和所提供的支持。为了更全面地了解对等叙述中提供的经验和支持，以及理解为什么不再遭受痛苦的妇女为了他人而选择挖掘潜在的困难记忆，对信件进行主题分析，并对在线调查进行分析，要求写信的妇女、收到信件的母亲和母婴单位就该计划提供反馈，NHS信托基金、HomeStart和皇家助产士学院也利用该项目支持她们照顾的妇女。心理健康障碍已经是生殖社会学中一个研究不足的领域，在过去6个月因新冠肺炎而导致的全球、国家和地方封锁之后，面对面的社交网络和支持服务进一步减少。该项目的发现将旨在表明，患有心理健康障碍会影响母亲的身份认同，以及在日益偏远和数字时代，同伴支持如何帮助管理这一问题。因此，这篇论文将致力于贡献社会学知识，为21世纪女性怀孕和为人母的经历提供新的理解，并与卫生从业者合作，编制一份关于对等叙事提供与PMH相关的潜力的NHS指南。从一开始，本论文将从产后抑郁症幸存者的角度进行反身性写作。因此，除了对其他母亲的围产期心理健康叙事的分析外，本论文还将运用人种学的方法来分析我自己的围产期心理健康故事。

There are many mental health disorders that affect women within their pregnancy or the year following the birth of their child, these are defined as perinatal mental health disorders. This thesis aims to explore how maternal narratives of perinatal mental health in peer-to-peer resources can be useful tools for improving the lives of mothers suffering with mental health issues. The following research questions will be addressed:RQ1: What narratives of maternal mental health are offered via peer-to-peer resources? And do these help counter mental health stigmas?RQ2: What role does narrative sharing perform for mothers who use their own experiences of perinatal mental health to help others?RQ3: How do mothers who are suffering from mental health issues use the narratives of others to improve their own mental health?Current government policies that have already been proposed are centred around the aim to make sure people's mental health are looked after as well as their physical health. As will be explored, perinatal mental health not only causes psychological, social, and emotional issues for mothers, it can also cause long lasting physical and emotional damage for their infants. Both of these vast difficulties cause financial damage to an already struggling National Health Service and a chronically underfunded and dwindling Early Childhood Service.Using letters from 'The Letters of Light' project founded by Olivia Siegl, an in-depth qualitative approach will be utilised in order to shed new light on women's experiences of perinatal mental health and the support on offer. In order to gain a more complete appreciation of the experiences and support offered within peer-to-peer narratives, as well as an understanding as to why women who are no longer suffering chose to dig up potentially difficult memories for the sake of others, thematic analysis of the letters and analysis of online surveys requesting feedback on the scheme from the women who wrote the letters, the mothers that received them and the mother and baby units, NHS trusts, Homestart and the Royal College of Midwifery who are also using the project to support the women in their care. Mental health disorders are already an under researched area in the sociology of reproduction, and following the past 6 months of global, national and local lockdowns due to Covid-19 there has been an additional decline in face-to-face social networks and support services. The findings from this project will aim to show have mental health disorders affects maternal identity and how, in increasingly remote and digital times, peer support can help manage this. Accordingly, this thesis will endeavour to contribute to sociological knowledge and shed new light on women's experiences of pregnancy and motherhood in the 21st Century and produce an NHS guide, in cooperation with health practitioners, about the potential that peer-to-peer narratives offer in relation to PMH. From the onset this thesis will be written reflexively from the perspective of a postnatal depression survivor. Thus, alongside the analysis of perinatal mental health narratives written by other mothers; this thesis will use autoethnography to analyse my own perinatal mental health story.