‘Mindfulness for Mothers’: meet Rebecca Ryan from Australia

Today in our Inspiring Stories Category we are delighted to feature the inspirational work by Rebecca Ryan, one of our Board of Advisers. She lives in Melbourne, Australia with her family. Rebecca is the founder and principal yoga and meditation teacher at Surrender Yoga and Meditation. She has been teaching meditation, prenatal and postnatal yoga, and mums & bubs yoga since 2007. Rebecca enjoys sharing her passion for meditation with other mothers, whether long-term meditators or newbies and encourages her students to allow mindfulness to seep into their daily lives. A full member of the IYTA (International Yoga Teachers Association), Rebecca was also a faculty member of the inaugural IYTA Diploma of...

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Gender equality: Call for action from the World Health Organisation (WHO)

On the 2018 International Women’s Day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called for "a world where every woman and girl has access to quality and affordable health services". In his statement, he acknowledged that "Gender equality must be at the core of 'Health for All'' The WHO theme of 2018 International Women's Day (IWD) was “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”. Each year the IWD is celebrated to highlight the social, cultural, political and economic achievements of women across the world. It is indeed sad to see that gender inequality still exists...

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An inspirational Pharmacist making a difference in patient care…

The outstanding contribution of the pharmacists to the patient care is celebrated today in the social media using the #pharmacy24. IFWIP would like to thank all the pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other pharmacy staff from all around the world for their tireless work in medicine and healthcare. On this occasion, we are delighted to feature the inspirational work by Hala Jawad, one of our Board of Advisers. Hala is a pharmacist from the United Kingdom who, in her own words, 'is passionate about all things pharmacy!'  She has been one of the lucky ones to have been involved in many other activities outside of a traditional...

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Inspiring story: World Health Innovation Summit

We are delighted to publish a guest blog from Mr Gareth Presch, Founder & CEO, World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS). Mr Presch is one of the members of the Board of Advisers of IFWIP and has been a great supporter of the work IFWIP is doing. WHIS organised an event (along with The Happy Mums Foundation) at Carlisle in December 2016 to raise awareness on wellbeing during pregnancy and beyond. We would like to thank Mr Gareth Presch for the blog: World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS) was inspired by the Carlisle Ambassadors in 2015 and the inspiring Give A Day to the City...

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IFWIP attends Unlimited Wellbeing event at Derby (UK)

IFWIP Founder, Dr Raja Gangopadhyay, had an opportunity to have an Exhibition stand to showcase the work of IFWIP to raise awareness of wellbeing in pregnancy in global perspective. The Exhibition and the Conference was organised by Unlimited Wellbeing at the Pride Park Stadium (Derby, United Kingdom). This was a brilliant event and there was excellent turnover. [caption id="attachment_854" align="alignnone" width="300"] Pride Park Stadium, Derby, UK[/caption] IFWIP stand was very well attended and people from all walks of life came and appreciated this global initiative. Dr Gangopadhyay also had an opportunity to speak with other Exhibitors and shared the theme of IFWIP with...

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Inspirational work: meet Emma Jane Sasaru from United Kingdom

Dr Raja Gangopadhyay, Founder, International Forum for Wellbeing In Pregnancy (IFWIP) requested Emma Jane Sasaru to share her inspirational work in supporting mothers and families. Emma is from United Kingdom (UK) and working tirelessly in 'raising awareness of perinatal PTSD, anxiety, panic disorder and birth trauma by talking at conferences, campaigning, blogging and helping with the setting up of strategic pathways in local Trusts and helping develop education for healthcare professionals'.  Emma summarised her work as follows: "I currently work in the National Health Service (NHS) in the Health in Pregnancy Service (HiPS) team at the Walsall NHS Healthcare NHS Trust...

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Inspirational story: Laura Clark

Dr Raja Gangopadhyay, Founder, International Forum for Wellbeing In Pregnancy (IFWIP) requested Laura Clark to share her inspirational work in the field of Mental Health, Emotional Wellbeing and Self-Care For Parents. Laura is a highly respected Parenting/ Lifestyle writer & mental health advocate from United Kingdom (UK). She suffered from Postnatal Depression / Anxiety. Now she is doing outstanding work in raising awareness and training healthcare professionals. She has created the Butterfly Mother blog where she shares "the painfully honest highs & lows of family life, including survival tips, recipes and reviews. PLUS, plenty of tips & self-care ideas for keeping mentally...

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Twitter Opinion Poll: Is it possible to prevent recurrence of perinatal depression with Mindfulness?

Dr Raja Gangopadhyay, Founder, International Forum for Wellbeing In Pregnancy (IFWIP) conducted an opinion poll on Twitter on 18th March 2018. He asked the question: "Is it possible to prevent recurrence of depression in perinatal period with Mindfulness-based intervention? What do you think?" The options were: 1) Yes  2)No  3) Could be 4) More research needed 50 people participated in the poll and the results are as follows: 1. Yes: 15% 2. No: 10% 3. Could be: 29% 4. More research needed: 46%     A recent systematic review also suggests the need for more research: "Further methodologically rigorous evaluation using...

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Ashley Curry, one of the IFWIP Board of Advisers, attended OCD Action National Conference

Mr Ashley Curry, one of the members of Board of Advisers of International Forum for Wellbeing In Pregnancy (IFWIP), was invited to attend as a Panel of Experts for the session, "Q&A on accessing treatment and other advocacy issues" at the OCD Action National Conference in London (UK) on 3rd March 2018. He shared his experiences and how Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) was beneficial to his recovery. Professor David Veale, Dr Rob Willson, Dr Lynne Drummond, Dr Amita Jassi were also on the panel at the Conference answering questions from the audience, about effective treatment for those that have obsessive-compulsive disorder, and...

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Prevention of relapse of depression during perinatal period: Can Mindfulness be the solution?

A study published (2016) by the researchers of the University of Colorado Boulder suggests that Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy adapted for Perinatal Depression (MBCT-PD) during pregnancy may reduce the risk of relapse of depression symptoms in mothers with the previous history of depression. This was the first Randomised Control Trial (RCT) to explore the effectiveness of MBCT-PD during the antenatal period.   The authors conclude that: "MBCT-PD is an acceptable and clinically beneficial program for pregnant women with histories of depression; teaching the skills and practices of mindfulness meditation and cognitive-behavioral therapy during pregnancy may help to reduce the risk of...

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