Appeal to raise £3000 for Birth Trauma Counselling & Therapeutic Services run by Radiant Mama in Devon

Challenges in pregnancy, birth and beyond 

Women experience a fundamental transformation during pregnancy and into early parenthood. It can be a time of excitement and joy but also fear, anxiety and loss. Many find themselves in unplanned and unexpected situations with their mental health and wellbeing suffering. The physiological and psychological impact of becoming a Mother is often not acknowledged.  

Radiant Mama clients have experienced a whole host of situations and emotions from events like unexpected pregnancy, birth shock and birth trauma. Some can suffer with grief from pregnancy loss, stillbirth and child loss. Others may have experienced postnatal depression, isolation and relationship breakdown. 

On top of this, new parents have a whole new role and dynamic to adjust to. Struggles with sleep deprivation, breast feeding, fatigue and learning how to provide 24/7 care to a newborn can be exhausting and overwhelming. 

Research shows that about 4-5% of women develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after giving birth – equivalent to approximately 25,000-30,000 women every year in the UK. Studies have also found that a much larger number of women – as many as one in three – find some aspects of their birth experience traumatic. Birth trauma report Theo Clarke

Societal context

Modern day pressures on the NHS can result in delayed, limited or lack of holistic services. It is becoming increasingly hard or slow to access maternal or postnatal mental health and wellbeing services, it´s a postcode lottery. With birth trauma, clients can be reluctant to go back into the system where their trauma may have occurred and ask for support. 

A matter of life and death  

To paint a picture of the extremity of this situation, illustrated below are the real stories of two mothers' recent experiences.  One mother received our counselling support. The other, who lived in another part of England, unfortunately did not receive the support she needed from professional mental health services or others who could have made a difference.  
Their names have been changed to protect their privacy. 

Rachel´s Story 

Rachel discovered Radiant Mama after the birth of her second child. She had a block of 5 counselling sessions and 3 parent coaching sessions. The Counselling sessions helped her process and gain clarity over a sequence of traumatic events from mistreatment during the birth of her first child and a subsequent miscarriage. This process supported her to identify the root cause of her jumbled mind and dark thoughts after her second birth: the fear of infant loss resulting in the struggle to bond with her new baby, despite a positive birth. 

During Counselling a number of holistic approaches helped Rachel, including Havening touch, mind exercises, talking therapy, hormonal nutrition and increasing activities that build oxytocin. Radiant Mama services helped settle her nervous system, reduce her insomnia and anxiety and reassure her thoughts that ´she's not being a terrible parent.´ After the counselling she felt much more settled, bonded with her new child and a greater sense of equilibrium:

´Through the sessions, the pendulum that was my mental state was slowly settling and coming to rest in the centre, feeling balanced by the last one.´

Parenting coaching has focused on her older child and increasing their connection and reducing her child’s anxiety. She’s received tips to support her older child to adjust to having a new sibling. She has also been invited into a listening partnership with another Mother to share their experiences for ongoing support. 

Various healthcare professionals wanted to refer Rachel to the NHS perinatal mental health team and suggested that antidepressants would be necessary. However Rachel wanted to avoid taking a clinical medical pathway unless absolutely necessary.

After being recommended for Radiant Mama counselling, she felt she had been ´turned around in the space of 5 weeks’ and had the integrative support she needed instead. She agreed with her G.P. no further help was needed from the NHS ‘Radiant Mama has transformed my perspective as a parent in so many ways. I suggest any new mother look up what Matrescence is: an enormous transition that encompasses every aspect of your life and body. It's Earth-shattering.’ Rachel 

Mena´s Story

In early 2025, tragically Mena took her own life when her baby was only 4 months old. Mena had not been recognised by the NHS as someone needing postpartum support, even though a history of mental health problems ran in her family. She had not had access to any counselling or therapeutic services. 

It is believed Mena suffered from Postpartum Psychosis. Her unrecognised suffering and the action she took resulted in the loss of this precious mother and unimaginable grief for those left behind.   

Many women receive crucial and timely support from the NHS mental health teams. Many more could if the pre and perinatal services had adequate funding and support to do the essential work of caring for the physical and mental health of pregnant and new families. There are brilliant new initiatives being developed which we hope will make a long term difference to the current unmet needs. Sadly in the case of Mena, it will come too late. 

Our Therapeutic Offer 

Radiant Mama is a not-for-profit organisation based in and around the Totnes area. We offer essential subsidised Counselling & Therapeutic Services for parents navigating pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.

We offer a holistic approach to normalise and validate feelings around traumatic childbirth and challenging issues that arrive during parenting. We help clients feel heard and seen, navigating them through distressing times, allowing them to process their experience whilst offering them a variety of tools and techniques to suit their situation. 

When the need is beyond our scope of practice, we support our clients to receive the care they need from appropriate sources. 

As a result of our services we often hear from our clients that they feel more confident, empowered and that life feels more manageable.

‘ Radiant Mama´s Counselling experience has been healing, empowering, and efficient. The structured approach helped me unpack my thoughts and emotions. The sessions provided clarity: my mind became clear. I have been able to process the challenges of the past five years and traumatic events that I experienced. I was surprised by how profound the counselling process was, uncovering unresolved issues that had been buried. Now, I feel more assertive, confident and open with my communication. I am more connected to my instincts and inner voice.’ Anonymous Mother, March 2025.

Our Financial Need  

In August 2024 we were granted £1600 by the Lottery Fund to offer 35 subsided sessions to take place between Sept 24 and the end of August 2025. We quickly exhausted these funds due to high client demand and have offered over 70 sessions since Sept 24.

We are crowdfunding a further £3000 to keep the service operating for the remainder of this funding year and to be able to offer our existing client base the additional support they still need as well as places to parents on our waiting list.  Your generosity will help us keep providing support and build a stronger and healthier community of parents. 

Please donate today to help Radiant Mama continue it’s mission and support the mental health of families in and around Totnes. 

• £60 provides 1 fully subsidised session
• £360 provides a block of 6 sessions

If you can only manage a small donation, know that your gift will make a difference. Our target of £3000 can be achieved through substantial donations or a number of little ones put together. Completing our appeal will enable us to focus on our much needed services. 

Thank you so much for your kindness, 

The Radiant Mama team x

For more information about our Counselling and Therapeutic Service