Want to know what Frome Birth Talk have been up to? 
Our interim report is packed full of information about our organisation - from our people and policies, to fundraising events and lofty goals for the future.

Download now and have a read!

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Local best-selling author, Libby Page, has published her brand new novel – and used her launch event as an opportunity to fund raise £150 for Frome Birth Talk.
 
Libby’s latest novel, The Lifeline is the follow-up to her breakout debut The Lido, which sold in over thirty territories and was optioned for film. This time the story takes place here in Somerset, drawing on Libby's love of wild swimming and her experiences as a new mother. The novel includes inspiration from Libby’s own experiences of early parenthood, and the support she received from local mental health charity Frome Birth Talk.
 
“In The Lifeline, I revisit The Lido's main character Kate, after she has had her first baby and moved to Somerset” says Libby.
 
“I chose to fundraise for Frome Birth Talk at my book launch because the themes in my novel are closely connected with the work the charity does to support new parents, and because it's a cause to which I have a very personal connection.
 
When my son was just a few weeks old I reached out to Frome Birth Talk for counselling sessions. The support I received helped me realise how normal it is to find new motherhood difficult.”
 
Libby hopes that her new book might help to facilitate more open conversations about mental health in parenthood, and make people feel less alone.
 
“Without the support of Frome Birth Talk, I probably wouldn't have written this book. A lot of the advice I received has ended up in The Lifeline, in the hope that it might help other new mothers as much as it helped me. The work Frome Birth Talk does to help new parents through the challenges of new parenthood and baby loss is of vital importance in our community.”
 
Frome Birth Talk’s Director, Suzy Cristinacce, spoke of the organisation’s reaction to Libby’s launch event fundraiser. “We were delighted that Libby chose the launch of her new novel as an opportunity to raise money for Frome Birth Talk, as well as raise awareness of many of the themes included in her book. It’s extremely common for pregnancy and early parenthood to bring difficult or complex emotions (as well as joyous ones) and our counselling service is vital in supporting families at challenging times.
 
We have a fundraising target of £30,000 this year, and events like these are so important in letting people know about the real impact of our support.”
 
Frome Birth Talk offers free professional counselling to anyone in the Frome area who is pregnant, or who has had or lost a baby within the last two years.
 
It also runs a drop-in baby loss support group on the first Wednesday of the month (7-9pm, Frome Town Hall) and two parent support groups: Bump to Baby welcomes anyone who is pregnant or has a pre-mobile baby (Wednesdays, 10-11.30 at Frome Community Hospital) and Frome Toddler Talk is open to parents, carers and pre-school aged children (Fridays, 10-11.30 at Trinity Church Hall).
 
Anyone can self-refer for counselling or get more information about the groups by emailing [email protected].
 
The Lifeline will be available to buy from Winstone's Hunting Raven and online from 25th April. If you'd like a signed and inscribed copy you can order one through Hunting Raven at bit.ly/lifelinefrome. 
 
You can donate to Frome Birth Talk at localgiving.org/charity/fromebirthtalk.

Local charity Frome Birth Talk has recently launched its new support group for people who have experienced baby loss. The group takes place from 7-9pm on the first Wednesday of every month at Frome Town Hall. It is for anyone who has experienced loss, whether through termination, miscarriage, still birth, or loss after birth. It is open to everyone, no matter when their loss occurred.

The group is facilitated by Melina Robinson (pictured), who is one of Frome Birth Talk’s qualified counsellors. Melina is passionate about running the project as she lost her 16-year-old daughter to cancer and knows the value of being with other bereaved parents: “My family and friends are amazing, but the only ones who truly understand the pain I am going through are the people in my support group. They are the ones who get me through the hardest times. The pain of loss never goes away but changes and grows with you. For people who have lost children, the pain becomes the bond with the child. This is a very difficult concept to grasp for many people, which is why it is so important to find other people who can always understand how messy grief is, regardless of the passing of the years.” 

The informal support group is a place where people can meet and share their stories, a place where they can feel understood without judgment. Suzy Cristinacce, Frome Birth Talk’s director said “There is a growing network of support for parents in Frome, including our free professional counselling service and baby and toddler groups. But our new group aims to include bereaved parents and allow them to feel fully acknowledged and accepted by their community too. We are very grateful to Melina and to Frome Town Council, who have funded the group for the next year.” 
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The group takes place from 7-9pm the first Wednesday of each month at Frome Town Hall. There is no need to book a place, but if you would like to find out more about the baby loss support group or any of Frome Birth Talk’s services, please get in touch: [email protected] or 07399 356863.

Director of Frome Birth Talk, Suzy Cristinacce, attended the Hearts and Minds Partnership meet-up recently. This is her account of the day.

"The Hearts and Minds Partnership is a network of community perinatal mental health organisations working across England. The gathering on the 30th January was the first ever annual meet-up of members. It was an opportunity to share experience and ideas as well as celebrate the work of this vital sector. For example, I took part in workshops about looking after our own wellbeing and funding. There was also an interesting panel discussion that included an academic who works in the field, people who had set up grassroots organisations and a representative from the National Lottery.

I came away with lots of information about the support that is available for diverse families, and we will be able to share lots of that via social media in the coming weeks."

I remember the endless nights when Freddie was a baby, the constant feeding and with that scrolling through my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. In hindsight this probably wasn’t the best thing to do, comparing my life to a perfect representation of what I thought parenting should be.

Forgetting that on the whole, people only post what they want you to see, hindsight is a wonderful thing and sleep deprivation really does mess with your mind.


Now a few years on, I have decluttered my feeds and unfollowed those that were not healthy for my mind and with that I came across a number of amazing parenting bloggers who show the true reality of parenthood. They aren’t Instagram filtered but instead, real and emotional and that was okay and wonderful in its own way. I recently put a poll out to my Facebook and Instagram friends asking for who inspires them but also who they can really relate too... this is the list they came up with:


The Unmumsy Mum
@theunmumsymum

Celeste Barber
I: @celestebarber * F: @officialcelestebarber * T: @celestebarber_

Hurrah for Gin
@hurrahforgin

The Learner Parent
I: @thelearnerparent * F: @samaverylearnerparent * T: @learner_parent

Selfish Mother
@selfishmother

Mum of boys and Mabel
I: @mumofboysandmabel * F: @mumboysandmabel * T: @mumofboysmabel

Man vs Baby
I & F: @manversusbaby * T: @mattcoyney

Giovanna Fletcher
@MrsGiFletcher

Stacey Solomon
@staceysolomon


Who is your favourite? Do you have anyone else you follow? We’d love to hear your
recommendations!

One of the top tips in a recent article by the NCT for taking care of yourself after having a baby is to get a breath of fresh air. This just doesn’t apply for those who have just had their baby but also for those with young children or who are pregnant too. Their advice was to go out for a short walk every day as being outdoors can help lift your mood, and it doesn’t have to be for long,

Mind also say that even five minutes in a green space can have a positive impact on someone’s mental health. We are really lucky to live in such a lovely part of the UK, with access to parks, walks and countryside just moments away. Mind’s recent article 'how can nature benefit my mental health?’ talks about these benefits of being outside:

• Help you take time out and feel more relaxed – having ‘you’ time is so important, you can get swept away with the day to day of having a newborn, working through your pregnancy or even balancing the two.
• Improve your mood, physical health, confidence and self-esteem and reduce feelings of stress or anger – there are many studies which have shown that doing physical activity can improve mental health. According to Mind , it can help with:

We’d love to see your photos of you enjoying the outdoors and hear stories about how being outside has benefited your mental health. Please email us or post on our social platforms.

The recent Time For You event was a resounding sucess! Thanks to all of your wonderful contributions we raised just under £600, all of which will go towards our free counselling service for pregnant women and new mothers in the Frome area.

Would you like to help Frome Birth Talk raise some more money for our free counselling service? Fancy organising a fundraising coffee morning? Perhaps you're feeling sporty or adventurous and feel up to running a marathon or doing a skydive??

We're always open to ideas about how to raise more funds so that we can help more mothers. Please feel free to get in touch with your suggestions.

The wonderful Suzy recently organised a coffee morning for Frome Birth Talk and raised an amazing total of £85.

Look at these lovely buns donated by Brendan from The Great British Bakeoff!

We are very excited to announce that we have received funding which will allow us to plan for the future! Many thanks go to the Esmée Fairbarn Foundation, The Big Lottery Fund and Frome Town Council for their support.