Maternal Mental Health Alliance

Who we are

The Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA) is a UK-wide charity and network of over 130 member organisations, parents, and clinicians dedicated to ensuring all women and families impacted by perinatal mental health problems have access to high-quality, compassionate care and support. We bring the maternal mental health community together and make change happen by combining the power of real-life experience with clinical and professional expertise.

Our culture and values

The MMHA is committed to fostering a culture of kindness, inclusivity, flexibility, frankness and collaboration where everyone’s voice is heard, no matter their role. Although we have a Senior Leadership Team, open communication is encouraged and fostered throughout the team.

Our organisational values

Ambitious - We won’t stop until every woman in the UK experiencing a perinatal mental health problem, or at risk of developing one, has access to the right care and support for her and her family.

Passionate - Our desire and determination to bring about change for women and families is fuelled by the lived experience both within and beyond the MMHA.

Collaborative - We value the power of lived experience, clinical, academic and campaigning expertise coming together across the four nations of the UK. We are open to expertise beyond the MMHA and aim to combine efforts wherever possible.

Humble - We seek to act as a catalyst, acknowledging the considerable work of others now and in the past, fostering and supporting the collective efforts of the maternal mental health community.

Resourceful - We are aware that women and families are suffering right now, so we strive to make a difference as a matter of urgency, in the most effective and efficient ways possible. We deliberately keep our overheads to a minimum and invest in robust learning and evaluation to help inform where to focus our time and other limited resources.

Our beliefs

Relationships - At the heart of maternal mental health are relationships – between mother and baby, family members, health professionals and across society. Relationships are also key within the Alliance. Nurturing connections between member organisations, staff, trustees and experts by experience is fundamental to effective collective work for the benefit of women and families.

Social justice - Although all women are at risk of developing a perinatal mental health problem, we recognise that some will face multiple disadvantages and stigma in speaking out or seeking help. We want to ensure all women, regardless of circumstances, background or life experience, can access perinatal mental health care. We also join the wider mental health community in calling for parity between physical and mental health.

Walking the walk - We are mindful that the wellbeing of our experts by experience, staff and all those who work with and on behalf of the Alliance is paramount. This commitment is prioritised in our culture, policies and communications.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Making change happen for everyone who experiences maternal mental health difficulties is our core purpose at the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA).

We believe that all women should have equitable access to high-quality services and compassionate care that meets individual needs. This means that we champion the rights of all people who face discrimination during pregnancy and after birth, including people from racially minoritized communities, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, and those experiencing multiple adversities such as poverty, addiction, homelessness, violence, abuse and exploitation.

As an organisation, the MMHA is committed to viewing everything we do through the lens of equity, diversity and inclusion. We are intentional about how we do this and how we make progress.

This starts with looking inwards, challenging our own biases and advantages. If we are to bring about meaningful change, we must also identify and challenge existing power structures.

We recognise that we are on a journey and we will make some small incremental changes and some big changes.

The journey may be uncomfortable at times and we may get things wrong, but we will be honest about it if we do.

We will continue to learn.

We take an intersectional approach to the many ways people experience discrimination, bias, prejudice, and inequalities. Intersectionality is a lens for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other.

We will listen and ensure we are as representative as possible, while recognising that it is not acceptable to place the burden of representation upon any one individual identity or minority group because this only serves to reinforce existing hierarchies.

If you have any questions about the above, or about the work we are doing to address inequity in perinatal mental health, please contact us at [email protected].