Lunch with Hazel Blears, MP.

Today I attended a Women's Business Lunch held by the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, of which I am a member.
www.gmchamber.co.uk/

Initially I had a coffee and very interesting chat with Robyn from Robertson Fox.
http://www.robertsonfox.com/
She explained some of her individual coaching techniques which sound most impressive!

The venue was the new Ramada hotel at Salford - very plush! Great function room with a huge picture window over Salford Quays.
www.ramadasalfordquays.com/

Due to taking a phone call I was late going into the function room and purely by chance ended up on the table with Angie Robinson, Chief Executive of the Chamber and the guest and speaker of the event Hazel Blears MP!

Also at the table was Sue Fogg from the hotel, Katherine and Arvid from Inspired Lives, Julie Finch from Axonbirch and Fiona Desmond from Martin Ward Anderson.

It was a very pleasant lunch with everyone sharing their businesses. I confess that I have been feeling rather tired since my jet setting but after listening to Hazel speak I was raring to go with such enthusiasm again!

Hazel described her start in life in the rather run-down Salford of years ago. At 14 she felt inspired to 'make a difference' in the world when seeing a 'tramp' in Manchester City centre. Now she has worked her way up to being in the Cabinet - her passion, humility and appreciation for her post shone through as did her utmost respect for her parents and their influence on her life. You are an inspiration Hazel - and write a book of your journey to the Cabinet! It would make fantastic reading!

When I was at college over 20 years ago my boyfriend Greg lived in Salford. Where we were today used to be industrial waste land. Now it is a buzzing place with the Media City being built along with real northern pride! Great progress and achievement.

My sadness about Salford though is that until recently there was a great system for mothers with postnatal depression as part of the Sure Start scheme. But funding has ended and so has the service, with the talented and dedicated staff dispersed. What a huge shame.

I called at my parents on the way home because they remain a great inspiration and tower of strength for me!

www.hanzak.com

Perinatal and Infant Mental Health

Today I attended a conference organised by the North West Regional Infant and Maternity Mental Health Network, of which I have become part of. The theme was 'Consultation and planning event needs, gaps and strategic challenges in the NW'.

The aims were:

• To confirm the importance of perinatal and infant mental health and its position in terms of current health and social care strategy

• To build capacity in the field of infant and maternal mental health at a regional and local level

• To present the findings of a recent scope of gaps and needs

• To explore the contribution of managed care networks and specialised perinatal mental health teams for improving outcomes for affected families in the NW

• To provide an opportunity for action planning across systems and services

I feel the aims were met and it was great to see almost 70 delegates from across the NHS there, especially some commissioners. There are some extremely highly motivated and committed staff in the region in this area but clearly there are huge gaps in provision.

I confess that I wanted to tell everyone there about my trip to Sydney and to stress some of the issues I learnt there! I am delighted that the 'Watch, wait and wonder' scheme that I was so impressed with is now being trialed down the road from me!

I urge everyone involved to begin to move forward in this area so we can alleviate the needless suffering out there!

Let's get some long-term funding and plans sorted and get cracking!

www.hanzak.com

How are you at time management?

Tonight we had a guest to stay with us. Robyn Pearce from New Zealand kindly let Dominic and I share a room with her on our last night in New York, after the National Speakers Association convention in August. We first met at a Global Speakers Network event held at the United Nations, where we were seated next to one another.

Robyn was visiting the UK to do a series of talks and dropped in on us in Cheshire between her engagements in the Lake District and Cardiff.

She is an amazing lady, mother of six and starts each day with a run!

Have a look at her details at http://www.gettingagrip.com/

I never cease to be amazed by the new friendships and opportunities which can be made by networking via groups. My new speaking 'family' of PSA has literally opened the world up for me!

http://www.professionalspeakersassociation.co.uk/Default.asp?

Perhaps if the invitation to go back to Australia next October materialises then I may just have to go to New Zealand too!

www.hanzak.com

The Samaritans conference

I was honoured to be invited to speak at the annual conference for The Samaritans. What a wonderful group of people! The venue was the University of York.

I was given a Samaritan to escort me, which was a lovely touch, and was made to feel most welcome.

The passion and commitment shown by the 1200 volunteers was incredible and made me feel most humble.

Some of the comments to my session were:-

• “Honest first hand account – positive approach”
• “Well presented, interesting to get an insight into this subject which I know nothing about”
• “Excellent and useful. Learned a lot. Good speaker”
• “Personally found this emotional. Talked straight from the heart. Helped to understand PND and depressive illness in general”

So I am delighted if some callers are helped even further due to me sharing my experiences.

I encourage people to support The Samaritans in any way and if you are suffering call them and you know that someone is prepared to listen to you - one of the best healers in my opinion.

http://www.samaritans.org/

It was also good to meet up with a fellow member of the Professional Speakers Association, Richard McCann. I read his book 'Just a boy' on the flight back from Sydney. He was also speaking at the conference.
http://www.richardmccann.co.uk/

Need to read his sequel now!

Thank you 'Sams' for making me feel so welcome and appreciated!

www.hanzak.com

From Sydney to Doncaster!

Tonight I spoke in the prestigious Royal Suite at Doncaster Racecourse, to a group of health professionals.

http://www.doncaster-racecourse.co.uk/

The event had been organised well by SMA as a study event.

I was especially excited to speak as I was able to include the latest research into my story from what I had learnt in Sydney the previous week.

As I spoke a photographer from the RCN journal was busy taking shots of me as I have written an article on Patient Empowerment which is due out in November edition of Nursing Management, and they wanted some pictures.

I stayed at the Grand St Leger hotel across the road from the race course and highly recommend it! One of the most comfortable beds I have slept in!

http://www.grandstleger.com/

www.hanzak.com

Marce Society - Final day

My final day in Sydney dawned so I packed my bags and headed across the road for the final sessions.

First was Philip Boyce from University of Sydney who spoke on Clinical issues in the Management of Mothers with Schizophrenia.
http://www.medfac.usyd.edu.au/people/academics/profiles/pboyce.php

Nine Glangeaud-Freudenthal spoke about Channi Kumar's Legacy for Perinatal Psychiatry and Mother-baby joint care. He was one of the founder members Of the International Marce Society in 1980.

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=104163

After lunch I was fascinated in a presentation about 'Watch, Wait and Wonder'.

http://www.childdevelopmentmedia.com/intervention-prevention/70810a.html

A video shown by Michael Zilibowitz was especially impressive. This is a deceptively simple but highly effective intervention that uses an infant or child led
approach to heal troubled relationships between a parent and child. It involves the parent getting down on the floor with her child in the clinicians room and asked to follow the child’s lead, not to teach, intervene or initiate the child’s activity in any way but be watchful and responsive to whatever the child wants to do. By learning to watch and realize that she does not have to intervene, the parent begins to observe and appreciate her child s individuality. As a result she comes to read the child s signals more objectively and becomes sensitive and responsive to the child s needs. The child is also allowed to express her inner life and develop a sense of self through play, exploration and interaction with the parent. This process often helps intrusive and directive parents to adopt the observer role and withdrawn or distant parents to take on the active observer’s stance and often truly see their child for the first time. Following the child led actively which last from about twenty to thirty minutes the parent is asked to discuss her observations and experiences with the clinician. Motivated parents are encouraged to continue this process in the home. The concept is a potentially powerful tool for general parental education.

The final session was a Hypothetical presentation given by a panel of the main speakers who considered what they would do with a problematic pregnant lady!

Then it was time to get a shuttle back to the airport and my flight home. Amazingly Atif Rahman who had spoken at the conference and I ended up sitting next to one another all the way to Dubai! So we had a wonderful opportunity to debrief and chat about perinatal mental health!

Just before I left the venue, Belinda, from Panda, said they were thinking of doing a national event in Australia next October and wondered if I would return! I would love to so if any other groups would like me in Australia next year let me know!

Marce Society Conference - Friday

Today began with a paddle and walk on the beach with my room mate Jane. One of those moments that I knew I did not miss teaching!

We got smartened up and then had a wonderful breakfast at The Manly Pacific hotel hosted by The Gidget Foundation, which was officially launched in November 2002 and since its inception has raised over $270,000 to support established organisations supporting woman and those around them affected by Perinatal Anxiety and Depression.

http://www.gidgetfoundation.com.au

The main speaker was Deborah Thomas, editor of the Australian Woman's Weekly who gave a very moving account of her personal suffering. She also stressed her eagerness to help save lives by spreading awareness of postnatal illness so I gave her my details!

http://www.nla.gov.au/council/thomas.html

Then it was the main conference with a great keynote address by Atif Rahman from Liverpool University. He gave a wonderful presentation about his work in Pakistan and a study to deliver a psychological intervention to depressed mothers and their infants through non-specialist village based health workers. This report was due to be published the next day in The Lancet.
http://www.liv.ac.uk/research/environment/atif-rahman.htm

Next was Jane Ussher from the University of Western Sydney who gave us 'Rejecting Raging Hormones: The Socio-Cultural Construction and Experience of Reproductive Distress'.
See her books at http://www.alibris.co.uk/search/books/author/Ussher,%20Jane%20M

I attended a session called 'A brush with death' which was about women's experience of significant postpartum haemorrhage, by Jane Thompson. This was especially of interest to me as I had suffered this when Dominic was born. In written comments women reported fear and trauma; heightened anxiety; sense of failure, loss and disappointment; disempowerment. Postpartum symptoms included excessive fatigue and fear of future pregnancy/birth. Women also questioned clinical decisions and care. Women reported some post-traumatic stress symptoms. Conclusions were that women experiencing PPH are at risk of hysterectomy, readmission to hospital in the 4 months postpartum and report symptoms of post-traumatic stress. They may need clinical review and follow-up. But basically more TLC and information!!

After lunch I listened to Timothy O'Leary from Frances Perry House, Melbourne, talking about his 'Father's Time Program'.
http://www.francesperryhouse.com.au/maternity/classes.asp
Fathers in these groups are encouraged to be positively anchored during times of stress - a frank, open discussion about these issues leaves pre-natal fathers feeling much more purposeful about their transition to parenthood than simply encouraging fathers to 'get involved'.

There was opportunity to view the many posters, including one from the support group www.pni.org.uk of which I am patron.

The evening was spent amongst an international group of 6 Americans, 2 French, 1 Dutch and me from the UK. We had a wonderful meal at the end of Cabbage Tree Walk in Le Kiosk.

http://www.lekiosk.com.au/

Kathy Wisner and Nine Glangeaud-Freudenthal who are the next two Marce Presidents were amongst the merry dinners! We discussed the next two conferences to be held in Pittsburgh in 2010 and Paris in 2012!


www.hanzak.com