I fully support this initiative
Improving Mental Health in Multiples Parents
Accessible Mental Health Program for Multiples Parents
Project details
Suggested by: Michaela
Project partner: Love Me Love You Australia
Region
Northern Metro
Budget
Votes
304 votes received
This project did not receive enough votes to be successful.
Spread the word
Before participating in Pick My Project please log in or register to YourSAy.
Multiples parents are at 5 times higher risk of developing postnatal depression. Awareness and understanding of this risk is key to prevention, identification and treatment. The project aims to improve Mental Health in Multiples Parents by the delivery of a 3-part Mental Health Program covering Awareness, Acknowledgement & Action., catered specifically to Mothers & Fathers of Twins, Triplets and more. The project will involved 6 sessions (Gender based streams) to be run at 4 locations around Victoria (East, South East, North & West) and delivered online to all Victorian Multiples Parents, which numbers at over 3500 parents & family members.
Studies have shown that all genders of multiples parents have a higher rate of Postnatal Depression than those of singleton babies. Increased logistical pressures of seeking support, can make it harder for multiples parents to seek assistance. Associate Professor Mark Umstad, the Clinical Director of Maternity at the Royal Women's Hospital tells new parents, "than rather than trying to handle everything from day one, they should be shameless about asking for help". The program will address logistical barriers through online delivery, and focus on education around seeking support from others, understanding depression & anxiety and opening Mental Health conversations.
Project details
Suggested by: Michaela
Project partner: Love Me Love You Australia
Region
Northern Metro
Budget
Votes
304 votes received
This project did not receive enough votes to be successful.
Spread the word
Before participating in Pick My Project please log in or register to YourSAy.
Comments
Comments closed
Like
(0)
Christopher Eid
11 Sep 2018
Having twins was an awesome gift but this gift also comes with a lot of pressure and minimal sleep not only financial but especially mentally and physically.
Even with support, you could still end up feeling helpless and alone. Support is critical in the first few months and still very essential in the several months following.
All I can say is my hat off to anyone who has triplets, quads or more.
Prem Twins was hard enough, never having a spare arm or spare time to think clearly and cannot imagine what it takes to get through having anymore babies at once..
Support for parents of multiple births are understated and under resourced.
Everyone is keen to comment how "cute" they are and how they wished they had twins, but they cannot trully understand the effort , pressure and hard work that takes place behind the scenes so that you can leave the house to try and clear your mind and try to feel "normal" again.
I was fortunate that I was able to take paternity and annual leave to provide additional support, but even then we didn't know what we didn't know and programs like this would have been greatly welcomed to help not feel alone, to be understand what's to come, have some sort of plan in place and better understand both the mental and emotional cycles to come.