Hello. I‘m Dr Jess Heron, Director of the charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP). Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As a young academic researcher studying Postpartum Psychosis, I was shocked by the lack of information and support available to new mums affected by the illness. The stigma and silence made recovery so much harder – with long term impacts for women, partners and children. We worked hard over many years conducting research into the causes, experience, and impact, but little seemed to change for women and families.

I set up the charity APP 8 years ago and since this time we have made a massive difference to health professional and public awareness of PP. We have developed patient information to help women recover, set up a life-saving peer support network, and campaigned for improved perinatal mental health services. We have volunteers in many regions of the UK helping us to raise awareness locally, train health professionals, and conduct research into PP.

I am so proud of our fantastic, hard-working, passionate team of staff and volunteers, who manage to do SO much with so little funding. That’s why I’m jumping out of a plane to raise money for APP. 

There is still much to be done. We would like to be able to reach ALL women and families affected by this devastating illness, with evidence-based information and peer support. There are many families that do not hear about APP and struggle with the illness alone. We would like to train ALL health professionals who work with new mums and families. Evidence-based information is needed in so many more areas. We need to understand what causes this illness.

Please donate and help me raise awareness and funds for APP, so we can help more new mums recover, reduce stigma and trauma, and save women's lives at this seminal time in life. PP is as common as Downs Syndrome yet few people have heard of it or realise it is a leading cause of maternal death. 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.