The next step in your PPD journey may be developing a peer support group.
Why develop a peer support group?
If you are now on the other side of postpartum mental illness, you may wish to provide support for others having similar experiences. Starting a peer support group is a wonderful way to give back to others but it requires a lot of work, training, and preparation.
Note: a peer support group does not replace therapy from a qualified health professional.
Here are a few considerations before developing a support group:
Starting a peer support group should be considered only after you have recovered and feel ready to give back. Make sure you are healthy and not currently experiencing symptoms of mental illness. The support group experience can be emotionally heavy for the facilitator too.
We recommend that you receive formal training. In British Columbia, the Pacific Postpartum Support Society offers cost-effective training to volunteers who wish to start their own peer support groups.
The comfort and safety of the group members is of utmost importance. Given COVID-19, you’ll have to decide whether it’s safe to have an in-person group or if it’s better to meet online for now.
Who can be involved in a group?
Your group can include anyone you want! However, having participants with varying levels of experience and expertise is recommended. Your group will include:
Participants: any moms/parents/family members struggling with perinatal mental health issues or looking for support and community
Facilitator(s): 1-2 individuals who have a history of PPD who feel comfortable leading discussions and diffusing any conflicts that arise. They may have previous experience facilitating a group. Facilitators might have their own past experience with postpartum depression or anxiety but should feel psychologically well at the time of running the group. Facilitators should be supportive and able to validate how group members feel, but also able to remain calm and impartial when difficult topics are raised.
Get the Proper Facilitator Training
Pacific Post Partum Support Society offers formal facilitator training. It’s highly advised to receive the proper training before leading a group.
Fast Fact
…contentNeed a Facilitator?
If you need help looking for facilitators for your group, consider reaching out to local organizations that may be able to connect you with someone. A province-wide resource is the Pacific Post Partum Support Society. This organization provides support, education, and counselling services for those experiencing perinatal mental health issues. It also runs training sessions and workshops for those looking to become facilitators.
Starting your group
When you decide to run your own peer support group, there are a few things that are good to bear in mind. One critical thing is the comfort and safety of the other group members. In addition, given COVID-19, you will need to decide whether it is safe to have an in-person group, or to meet online.
- ensure there are no or minimal fees to participants
- hold the group in a child-friendly space like a library or community centre
- consider having the group online, especially in rural areas
- choose a neutral location, i.e. don’t have it in a group member’s home
- hold the group in a location that is easily accessible by both transit and car (i.e. having a parkade or free street parking close by).
- host the meeting in a private room with minimal windows to ensure privacy
- encourage confidentiality among the group members
- provide water/refreshments (see below on how to engage local businesses for donations)
- be mindful of the time you schedule the group for. If it’s during the day, participants might need to arrange childcare or take time off work, but evenings might be busier and more demanding for some. Try sending out a Doodle poll for participants to indicate their availability for certain days and times.
- establish a clear behavioural code of conduct for participants to follow. You can create and discuss this as a group to ensure the guidelines are collaborative and mutually agreed upon. Facilitators should be in charge of upholding members to these guidelines and reiterating them to the group if necessary.
- start the group off with an icebreaker to ease people into the discussion. Here are 100 Fun Ice Breaker Questions.
- have a regular, confidential record of participants to keep track of weekly attendees. If your peer group is meeting regularly, it can be useful to keep track of the demographic information of your participants in order to demonstrate a need to potential community partners.
Advertising your group
To build awareness of your group, you will need to advertise it!
Social media is a great way to advertise your peer support group to a wide audience. Consider advertising on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter on your own timeline, in Facebook groups, and on other pages specific to perinatal mental health. Ask other local groups/forums to advertise for you as well if you’re having difficulty finding members.
You can advertise your group in person by posting flyers in places like libraries, community centres, coffee shops, etc. To post these flyers, you will likely need to ask permission from the establishment. You might also share these flyers with local pregnancy education groups, lactation consultants, and your own healthcare providers.
It can be useful to include information on postpartum depression and anxiety symptoms in your advertisements so anyone struggling with mood or anxiety symptoms, even if they have not been diagnosed with postpartum mental illness, can attend.
Engaging local supporters
If you’re hosting your groups in person, you can ask local businesses to provide your group with donations of food or drinks.
Tips:
You can try approaching a business in person or through email. If you choose to ask through email, try to find a letter template online and fill in the blanks for your own purposes.
Local businesses are often willing to donate to charitable causes, especially if they think they might gain something in return in the way of increased business. If you’re comfortable, suggest advertising the business as your provider of food/drinks on social media or in your support group flyers.
You’ll also want to let local healthcare providers know of your group so they can provide support, resources, and refer new parents to your group. Additionally, you can:
- write emails to healthcare professionals in your community about your group as a convenient, lower-barrier first step
- ask to attend their staff meetings or workshops to promote your group and PPD awareness
Running a peer support group in a digital space
If you don’t have the physical space to hold a support group meeting, or experience other barriers to being able to meet in person, try creating a digital group through Facebook or Zoom.
Which Digital Platform is Best?
Facebook is best if you want your group members to be able to write comments at any time. Zoom may be better if you would like to meet in real time.
Click the ‘+’ button in the top right corner of your Facebook page.
In the menu that drops down, select the “Group” option.
Once you select group, you’ll have the option to choose a group name, select privacy settings, and invite people. A private group means that only group members can post and see who else is part of the group. A public group means that anyone can see who is in the group and what’s posted.
If you want to have online groups, but still incorporate face-to-face discussions, using Zoom!
To create a recurring Zoom meeting that will happen at the same time at the frequency of your choosing:
Log in to Zoom and click your profile icon in the top right corner.
You will be taken to your profile in Zoom, where if you look in the top right-hand corner again there will now be an option to schedule a meeting.
Once you’re in the scheduling page, you will have many options. You can choose the name and description for your meeting, when it will occur, how long the meeting will be, and whether it is a recurring meeting. Once selected, you can choose the meeting’s frequency, on what days it will occur, and if you’d like there to be an end date to the series of meetings. You can also choose to select a password for your meetings, which increases security for all members.
