New mental health guide planned for Jersey parents

New parents are being invited to share their experiences

Parents in Jersey have been asked to help make a new mental health guidebook for others starting a family.

It is thought to be the first time something like this has been done in the island.

Families have been asked to share their experiences of mental health problems and how they found accessing support.

Health experts hope the guidebook will raise awareness about mental health problems and show parents what support is available.

Jersey's specialist perinatal mental health midwife, Josephine Lane said: "Being a parent is a struggle so we need to ask how do we support parents around it?

"By working with all these different agencies in this guidebook, we will be creating a new supportive village in the island," she said.

Jersey Maternity Voices Partnership started a survey to hear from parents in the island to see what mental health support they were offered and what could be improved.

Its senior chair, Emma Sykes said nothing like this had been done before in Jersey, focusing specifically on perinatal mental health.

"A lot of our feedback that we've had over the last two years has been around mental health," she said.

"It's been about not knowing where to go for support, needing more support and being worried about what happens if you reach out.

"I really want to tell parents that it's fine not to be fine.

"If you do need some support, then it is available."

The new mental health guidebook for parents in Jersey is set to be published at the beginning of 2024.

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