Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week: New perinatal community group supports mothers with autism

05 May 25

A new group supporting autistic mothers has started in Hertfordshire specifically for women accessing the community perinatal team.

The new group run by HPFT, provides a safe and supportive environment for autistic mothers to connect, share experiences and receive peer led and professional support. The sessions will cover autistic identity, and the strengths and challenges faced by individuals living in a neurotypical world. The group will also explore and help individuals to develop strategies to cope with parenting burn out, sensory demands and tolerating distress.

1 in 3 autistic adults will experience moderate-severe mental ill health and diagnosis can often happen later in life which adds to their loss of sense of self, poor mental health and ability to cope during the perinatal period.

The group follows a successful pilot which ran earlier this year. Feedback from the pilot included:

“The group has made such a difference to how well I manage my day-to-day life and has given me so many resources to carry on learning from and implementing into my home and work environments.”

“One of my hardships has been thinking that I'd never meet people similar to me but I feel the sessions helped me realise that there are and that my feelings are valid, so I'm very grateful for the opportunity to have been part of the group.”

Jacqui Christopher, Head Occupational Therapist, HPFT, said:

“Neurodiversity presentations are common in new mothers which is often due to the added stress placed on them during this time. They are navigating changes in routine and dealing with things like sleep deprivation, unpredictability, changes in focus and increased demands on them.

“We aim to support women to feel empowered to understand these challenges and equip them with the tools to manage their emotions. We believe through access to our group and autism pathway within the service, mothers are more likely to find the transition to parenthood a much better experience, which will have a positive impact on their baby.”

For more information, please contact Jacqui Christopher, Community Perinatal Team, Jacqui.christopher@nhs.net

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Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week: New perinatal community group supports mothers with autism