Caroline, Bex, Johanna and myself will be walking, jogging, cross training or running as many miles as we can throughout June to raise money for the brilliant charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP).

We hope to complete over 250 miles between us.

Why are we doing this?

Postpartum Psychosis affects 1-2 in every 1000 women who give birth in the UK each year. It is always a psychiatric emergency and it can happen completely out of the blue - regardless of whether or not you’ve had previous mental health problems.

That’s why we’re so keen to raise awareness - and to fund raise for APP and support them in their campaigns and projects which include lobbying for more Mother and Baby Units, delivering more peer support and facilitating research into this potentially devastating - but wholly treatable - illness.

Below are five facts (in miles) about postpartum psychosis

● 10 miles: More than 1 in 10 women develop a mental illness during pregnancy or within the first year after having a baby. 

● 20 miles: There are soon to be 20 Mother and Baby Units in the UK. There’s still no Mother and Baby Unit in Northern Ireland. 

● 500 miles: It’s just under 500 miles to cycle from NHS Lothian Livingston Mother and Baby Unit in Scotland to Jasmine Lodge Mother and Baby Unit in Devon (494 miles). Many mums and babies travel hundreds of miles to be together whilst mum is treated in hospital for a severe maternal mental illness. Dads, partners, families and friends can have to travel hundreds of miles back and forth to visit mum and baby. 

● 1000 miles: 1 to 2 in every 1,000 mothers experience postpartum psychosis.

See www.app-network.org for more information.