Exactly one month before the Virgin Money London Marathon, Best Beginnings is launching a series of maternal mental health films aimed at helping the wider community understand the issues mums experience after giving birth. On Thursday, 23 March, the Duchess of Cambridge will attend the launch of a series of educational films on the mental health of new or subsequent parents at The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. This set of maternal mental health films, titled Out of the Blue, were created by Best Beginnings – a charity partner of the Heads Together campaign.
The series of movies touche on a range of maternal mental health issues and other aspects of mental health after a birth of a child. Through the telling of personal stories from mums across the UK, the films show friends, fathers, and other family members how to better understand the problems mothers can experience. It shows how mothers can suffer from a range of post-natal problems from low mood and anxiety to more severe issues like severe depression.
Heads Together has eight charity partners that focus on unique aspects of mental health; all of these charity partners work under the umbrella of The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. It is the hope that showing the films will carry over to the marathon.
Additionally, showing this series of films aims to raise awareness of the mental health challenges mothers face after giving birth and helping start the conversations about the overall wellbeing of parents and their children.
The Duchess is scheduled to speak about the importance of maternal mental health at the launch, as well. The event will be attended by academics, health campaigners, and other professionals. While there, Her Royal Highness will watch Out of the Blue and hear a speech given by Best Beginnings Chief Executive, Alison Baum.
After the Duchess says a few words, she will introduce a couple to the attendees, Jessica and John, who will then share their story of how they got through post-natal depression. Afterwards, the Duchess will join a support group for parents like those featured in the Out of the Blue film she watched earlier. According to the press release from Kensington Palace, the support group will discuss “how becoming a parent affected their mental health and how open and honest conversations with family, friends or other trusted people helped them get through the tough times.”
