'I couldn't control how I was feeling' - Leeds mum credits perinatal mental health team with saving her life

When the 36-year-old fell pregnant with her sixth child, she assumed the next nine months would follow the same, normal pattern as her previous pregnancies.

But as she neared her due date, she was blindsided by a sudden onset of anxiety.

“I was having panic attacks every morning - every day started that way. It was quite distressing to be honest. I didn’t know what was happening or why I was feeling this way. ”

After struggling on for a couple of weeks, Sadif then visited her GP who suggested it was hormonal changes and would settle - but it didn’t.

“I remember it was a weekend, a Saturday and I just went to A&E. I couldn’t stop crying, I couldn’t control how I was feeling. I was so upset and on edge with my anxiety. I kept feeling something bad was going to happen to the kids.”

Thankfully doctors there quickly recognised her symptoms and referred her to the perinatal mental health service.

“That referral was a lifeline for me,” said Sadif. “Not only did I have a team of professionals who understood my condition but they helped me to understand what was happening to me was treatable.”

Sadif was given counselling and prescribed medication and by the time her daughter Rumaysa was born she was feeling “so much better”.

Rumaysa is now 18 months old, having been born just before the pandemic broke out.

The timing was a relief to Sadif but she now volunteers for the service to help with the numbers of women coming through during the crisis.

“Even being able to go into a hospital now you have to think twice. In that sense I feel relieved it didn’t happen right now but I know there are a lot of women who are going through this right now.

“It’s important for them to know that there is still that support.”

Sadif joins in weekly zoom sessions, run by the perinatal mental health service's inclusion worker who was recruited to try and break down cultural barriers, particularly within BAME communities, in accessing support.

Sadif said: “We catch up with them and it’s a safe space for them to open up.

“Especially during lockdown, it’s very difficult. A lot of the feedback we’ve had is they feel isolated, they can’t go out with friends, they’re not seeing the people they normally would.

“Personally with my babies, I used to go to baby groups and that was very big in terms of mental health and meeting other mums and for the babies to get out as well.

“Now it’s everything within the home.

“We’ve had some amazing feedback from people saying it’s good to speak to other mums going through the same thing and some have said it feels like a family.”

She added: “The perinatal service is fantastic. How they have helped me and now I’m working with them I can see exactly what they do to help women. It’s just fantastic and this is an opportunity for me to give back.”

For more information on the service visit https://www.leedsandyorkpft.nhs.uk/our-services/perinatal-service/ and also visit http://mindwell-leeds.org.uk/baby for more information on support during pregnancy or birth during the coronavirus pandemic.

Important websites and numbers:

Visit www.mindwell-leeds.org.uk/coronavirus

West Yorkshire mental health 24/7 support line, provides confidential advice - 0800 183 0558

Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service, for anyone aged 17 or over: www.leedsmentalwellbeingservice.co.uk

For children and young people: www.mindmate.org.uk

For those struggling with alcohol and drug use: www.forwardleeds.co.uk

A mood self-assessment is here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mood-self-assessment/

Leeds Mind: 0113 305 5800, or email [email protected]

For people in crisis:

Connect, open 6pm-2am on 0808 8001212 or online chat at www.lslcs.or.yk

For people in crisis: Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s 24/7 single point of access on Freephone 0800 183 1485.

Samaritans Leeds - 116 123 or 0113 245 6789

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